


Just Born For It!

by Imagi77



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Gen, Prepare Yourselves for a Feels Fest~
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagi77/pseuds/Imagi77
Summary: At the start, all Ralph wanted was a crummy little medal. But when he flies into one of his neighboring games by accident, he unwittingly begins to discover that there is something dark, hidden deeply in the heart of the racing game, Sugar Rush. It all starts with a tense chat with a sweet yet protective King Candy. (AU Kind Candy)





	1. Can't Race?

When Vanellope's name was declared on the racing board, the King's heart leaped to his throat nearly knocking his crown right off his head. He jumped forward to look to see one child leaping for joy at the fact that she got a chance to race for the roster! It hurt him but he knew that she knew well about why she couldn't~ Why was she doing this? "Vanellope!?" he exclaimed, his voice outright littered with concern with a hint of anger.

The little olive haired girl stopped her bouncing and looked up at the popcorn box seat of the Candy King, looking a tad scornful up at him. The two only exchanged glances.

"Young lady! You come up here thisth instant—"

Before he could even finish the rest of his sentence something caught his eye from across the track all covered in taffy and lollipops for the forest behind it! Vanellope saw the fear and surprise in his eyes before turning to look for herself. The other girls all began to scream at the sight of this huge, wide candy monster blaring out something incoherent to the King's ears. But when he saw it charge right at Vanellope, he panicked! At Vanellope's yell, the King leaped out from his box seat and landed before he ran to her and took her by the hand.

"Wynchel! Duncan!" he yelled before these two donuts came running at the mass while the two ran away from the track.

That didn't stop it just yet as the assorted fan boxes were flipped over to reach them. Candy had just about enough but made sure Vanellope was behind him first and foremost before he would face the loud thing. His subjects were thrown all over the place besides this thing chasing after his daughter, he was livid. Unintentionally the creature swiped a cupcake off its tower just before it got to the girl, getting itself stuck in the process. She and Candy got out of the way as it rolled about. Candy didn't know why his daughter was giggling at the thing that just tried to nab her but he was going to get to the bottom of this.

"I hafta do everything mythself apparently… Vanellope, you are not goin' anywhere, you hear me?"

She took one look at him and she sighed, wiping that smile off her face knowing that her attempt to race was out of the question. She pulled her hand away but didn't run, having at least some respect for him.

"How dare you threaten my subjects!" Candy was rightfully mad at the trapped taffy ball. "You two, bring this thing to my castle. Vanellope? You're staying with me." he then looked to her, straight in the eye but he softened his tone. "Did it hurt you?"

"I'm fine— I just wanted to race." she changed the subject.

"Ugh! My dear, we're not gonna talk about thisth now— you almost got hurt."

"SHE STOLE — HEY OW! WHAT'RE YOU DOIN'!?" That taffy ball started to talk as it began to get rolled away upon his order. Vanellope looked a bit guilty.

King Candy cleared his throat making sure the girl went with him as he took the microphone again while the poor candy people tried to collect themselves. The girl racers were all panicked.

"Heh! Everything is all right! The monster's been caught! We'll repair all the damage and you all will have the race before the arcade opensth!" he reassured before he saw a new kart set before the starting line. Brand new. "Vanellope? Come. We're going home."  
*

Home was this sugary castle atop a powdered sugar hillside that overlooked all of Sugar Rush. To Vanellope this place was a sort of prison to her… not that extreme but… her Pop was a bit difficult sometimes— a lot of the time. His reasons were understandable, she guessed. Something was wrong with her although she was one of the main racers once… but something went wrong that made her pixels go all glitchy. She once crashed off the rainbow gum bridge and got badly hurt which made the glitching worse. It scared her Pop to the point that he kept her from racing and the track, fearing that she had the inability to regenerate. It has been so long and she was beginning to get really upset, and rebellious. As soon as she entered the throne room with him and Sour Bill she gave a groan.

"You have thsome explaining to do, young lady…"

"You can't keep me on a leash forever! It isn't fair!"

"Calm down, pleasthe… I don't like doing this either… I'm only trying to protect you. And with thisth thing comin' after you back there, I am not that convinced…"

"Sweet Monkey Milk, Pop! Please, I really want to race again~ It's in my code…"

"I-I know, thsweety. I know…" King Candy sounded truly sad since this hurt him too.

Vanellope sighed seeing that look in his eyes and her shoulders fell and she sat down on the sugar tiled floor. He paced for a moment, his shoes jingling as he did. "I hate being a glitch…" she sighed as she faltered into pixels for a second.

"Huh?" Candy heard that nasty word. "Oh! Hoo-hoo, thsweety, no~ You're not a glitch… Don't thsay that about yourthelf."

"It's true, Pop…"

He went to where she sat slumped and hugged her. She let him do so and leaned in, sniffling a little. "There, there now, dear… This is hard for both of usth. I want you to race again. I really do. We'll get to the bottom of thisth. I promise."

Soon enough, the throne room doors were opened and that cupcake caught monster was then rolled in. When Candy turned his head, Vanellope swallowed nervously as if she had a secret. Candy fixed his coat and waved the girl to go stay by the throne, just in case this thing had any ideas.

"Sour Bill, de-Taffify this monster so we can see what we're up against here!" he then ordered the small sour bean.

"mmmkay," Sour Bill drawled suspiciously as he tore off the mumbling head of the monster only to reveal this buff, spiky-haired sort that just rubbed off the Candy King the wrong way. This wasn't much of a far cry then…

"OW! wow…!"

"I thsee that you're not from around here, are you?" the King spoke to this character. "Who are you and what were ya doin' here in my kingdom, scaring my racers half to death, chasing after my daughter, hmm?"

"Look dude, I didn't know she was your kid, okay?… Sorry about all that, but all I wanted was my medal back, okay, Your Highness?"

"Hoo-hoo, wow! You think thisth is a game, do you? I am thsorry to thsay that I am not that convinced. Thso you didn't know she was my kid? Strong choice of words there. Now ansthwer my questions properly… Who are you?" King Candy remained patient but he was truly very angry.

This large man sighed before he spotted Vanellope hiding behind the throne, recognizing her right away. He groaned under his breath, tightening his fists before he had to be respectful. This one interrogating him had every right to be angry.

"My name is Wreck-It-Ralph from the game Fix-It-Felix Jr."

"What!? What are you doin' here, in a game ya don't belong in? Asth if this night could get even weirder…"

"Listen, sir, I was just looking for something. I didn't mean to come into your game… It was an accident. I'm a bad guy in my game… I just wanted to bring a medal home to prove a point."

"Medal or whatever it isth, you do not just come in and start chaos and act like it's just a thsilly accident! You threatened my subjects, throwing them around all over the place! You tried to come after my daughter, for one. I am not a happy King, I might add!"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness! Really I am…"

"I am thsure you are…" Candy was still not all right with this guy. "Wynchel? Duncan? Get him out of this cupcake and on the next train back home. And I do not want to see you here in Sugar Rush again, Wreck-It-Ralph! I have a place for ruffians like you."

"Come on, please! Just let me talk to her, sir? I swear, I wasn't going to hurt her. I just want my medal back!" the Wrecker began to get desperate. "She's right there…"

"Why should I let you?"

"Because she stole it from me…"

Vanellope wanted to scream. She knew he would rat her out.

"She did what? You stop right here, you ruffian… You're saying that she used this medal of yours to get her name in that race? Oh, Vanellope…" Candy ultimately began to pinch the bridge of his nose as if to battle a huge headache.

"Thanks a lot, Knuckles!" she began to walk out with crossed arms.

"We will talk about this later, child." Candy warned her.

"She did what? I need that back!" Ralph countered.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you. Once a coin is flipped into the trophy it never comes back until the roster race is finished. We're done here, Ralph." Candy then turned his back with a sour look on his rosy cheek face.

Ralph looked defeated as he glared daggers at the girl. The two looked like they absolutely hated each other.


	2. Truce Making

The King took her up the stairway to have a little chat with her… He was exasperated, but he had to remain calm.

"It's not that bad, Pop… I was gonna give it back to 'im when I won the race," she told him.

"You were thsupposed to stay in thisth castle until I came back." he turned to her, his face a storm. "Until I get to the bottom of thisth, you are not to go near that track alone."

"Well, it ain't workin' isn't it, Dad?" she snarked back.

"And why, Van? Why? Why are you suddenly stealin' from strangersth? And who got you that Kart?"

"Taffyta and Candlehead helped me, okay?" Vanellope's pixels went wild for a second, which put Candy on edge in an instant. "They pretended Taffy's wheel broke so they went in to make another one for me."

"Hmph, good to know you three are still on good termsth…" he sighed, not enjoying all this secretive stuff going on while he was busy. "Vanellope… I do not know what's happening to you… Every time I thsee it, I wanna panic… You thsay it doesn't hurt you, but it scares me."

"It doesn't hurt at all, Pop! Watch this!"

To his dismay, Vanellope began to run down the sugary corridor. She had been waiting to at least show him how she would manage this issue. She had been practice in secret for a while now (Not that she was telling him that). She bounced off the walls, glitching in an instant before appearing to jump off the other end in an instant. Candy gasped when he saw this, continuing to watch until she suddenly appeared behind him, goosing him.

"SUGAR! Vanellope! Gonna give me a heart attack~ … oh! Hoo-hoo, okay ya proved your point…"

"See, Pops? I'm fine~ I can use this in races."

"I… It's not that I don't trust you, Van." Candy saddened. "But thsomething is truly wrong here. If you hit an obstacle or someone hitsth you, or if your Kart falls off the track… What if you don't…?"

He couldn't find it in him to say it.  
Regenerate.  
Even thinking about it brought tears to his eyes. Once Vanellope saw them, she went to him when he turned away from her, lost in frantic thoughts. He was downright terrified.

"Hey," she hushed her voice down to a whisper. "Hey, hey… c'mere, look at me, Pops…" she then took his hand.

Sour Bill came up to meet the Royals in the quiet hallway, seeing the two quietly speak to each other while his King was dabbing his eyes, sorrowfully, with a handkerchief.

"I just can't risk havin' you out there right now. Pleasthe…" Candy spoke, very softly.

"… I promise that won't happen. It'll be okay. Really." the small sour sweet overheard as he came close enough.

"Is everything all right, Your Highnesses?" Sour Bill finally asked, concerned but respectful for this personal moment. He would not interfere unless told otherwise.

"Oh! Thsour Bill…" Candy got himself together, tucking the handkerchief away into his coat. "Yesth, everything is fine…" he sniffled, slightly. "Isth our guest finally ready?"

"Yes, sirrr."

"Very good…"

Well, that was a wonderful first impression to make on this wild trip into this Go Kart game. Perhaps it was the best advice to just take it one game at a time… There was no way the Nicelanders would be okay with him now. Sure, he did cheat but he worked for that medal… Somewhat. That tower was a pain to climb. Finally free from that cupcake, Ralph began to follow the two donuts out. Until he finally saw that kid skip her way down the castle stairs with her father apparently, closely following behind, still not looking very trusting.

"It would thseem that my daughter owesth you an apology, Wreck-It Ralph. But I am thstill angry about the destruction you caused to our race track." the King stood his ground even at Ralph's might. "Thso to fix thisth problem, you are to come with usth and wait until one of my Racers winsth. And that will be it."

"You mean, I get to have my medal back?" Ralph began to smile through his guilt.

"She admitsth she threw a medal into the cup. I assume you're not lying to me."

"Wow! This means a lot to me, Y-Your Candiness, it really does! Thank you!"

"Hehe~ never heard THAT one before… Now, Vanellope?"

King Candy looked at the Racer expecting something. She grudgingly sighed, marching up to the Wrecker. "Look… I'm sorry I took your medal, Jumbo. I wanted to prove somethin' too but nope! That's out the window…"

"I guess so, you little thief…" Ralph was only kidding about that. "If I gotta watch a race with you, kid… I guess its fair enough."

"Y'know, it was kinda fun messin' with ya back there." she joked.

"Hmph, very well… Now I don't want any more trouble from you. Neither of you. Deal?" King Candy warned both of them.

"You got it, I promise!" Ralph was nervous for good reason. Vanellope only rolled her eyes. It felt like he was facing a mother bear after he messed with her cub. Gladly, this was all getting settled peacefully. No wrecking here, of course.

The girl held her hand out to the Wrecker. "Okay, Chump… Do we have a truce?"

"Fine…"


	3. The Random Roster Race

One thing Ralph didn't mention though and he wasn't sure, was that bug thing that made him crash here… He wasn't sure either if this Princess saw anything or enough of it. Her daddy was already cutting him enough slack. Gladly, that bug was drowned in the taffy swamp so once he gets his medal fair and square, he would be out of the way as soon as possible. There was no other way for Ralph to get back to the track but walk as the King and his daughter drove to it while he was escorted by these two cops and these Oreo cookie guards. Ralph caught onto that smart smirk on Vanellope's face as she was driven away in this sugar cube cart. Oh go and laugh it up, Princess Gutter Snipe… You're lucky I'm nice. he thought as he shuffled forward. At least she got into some trouble. It wasn't only his mistake.

Later, everything down at the race track all got arranged again, with those little cheering sweets all right and happy again, back in their spectator boxes. The track was being swept and that one new blue and white Kart was no longer among the ranks but was gently parked beside the King's spectator stand right by the steps up to it. Vanellope stared at it longingly, even the other one she used to race with made out of light sugar cubes with a three-piece horn. She had to think of something else if anything was going to be resolved about this stupid glitch. Now that she realized Pop's worry entirely, there was still some hope in the sugary air. For now, she was stuck being under vigil after the stunt she pulled today and sat right beside her Pop's chair in his spectator box. The children who waited patiently at their Karts were confused as to why a giant suddenly appeared out of nowhere. King Candy got right to it…

"My thsweet subjects!" he began into the microphone. "Pleasthe be absolutely honest with me. Is anyone out there hurt? Is everyone all right?" he asked to all those present.

A mass of them yelled 'YES' in chorus while the children all muttered to one another.

"What was that thing, King Candy?" Muttonfudge asked aloud.

"It was nothing, you gooseberry. It was my fault…" Vanellope cut in.

"Of course, it would be…" Taffyta crossed her arms, glaring at her friend from afar. "Did all that work for nothing!"

"Never mind what it wasth only that it'sth been settled." King Candy continued. "It wasth all a misunderstanding. A neighbor has come into our game tonight in search of thsomething that was tossed into the winnersth cup. Whoever winsth the roster race tonight, keep an eye out for a medal and give it to me. Am I clear, my dears?" he instructed and each young Racer all nodded.

They shared looks at one another, still confused but they chose to comply.

With this confirmation, King Candy gave a sigh of relief after all this scare. "Very good. Hehe! Now! All of you get to your Karts, we haven't all night, you know!" his voice cheered right up, even though he was a bit unsettled himself. "Very nice!

At his official announcement, finally, the Racers all got settled into their Karts, starting them and revving up their engines. From the side lines, it truly looked like a few of them was giving each other some death glares.

"All right! I want a nice, fair race!" King Candy continued as soon as he saw his Racers were already at the line. "Try not to burst any of the gumball machinesth this time, I'm lookin' at you, Rancis~."

The little peanut butter cup lad stuck his tongue out playfully as he readied his engine.

"Let the Random Roster Race commence!"

The little flying marshmallows gathered their cameras and set themselves behind the racers as the light turned green and a horn was blared!

Some went right away as some revved too hard and smoked… but each racer zoomed from the starting line. All Vanellope could do was to watch which was pretty painful to simply put it. Ralph stayed hidden behind the stands, so not to spook the sweet citizens at the moment. Of course, Vanellope had her own little plan… and as the race began she tunneled her way down behind the scenes to speak with this goofy giant. Unfortunately, the little majordomo, Sour Bill was shadowing her upon the King's request.

"Oh shush, Pops, I ain't goin' anywhere!" she yelled upward at the stand, making Ralph turn and look over to her.

"What're you up to now? You heard POPs." Ralph joked.

"It's Your Highness, to you." Sour Bill spoke, low and monotone.

"Only I get to call him that, Knuckles." she sharply corrected.

"Oh ff- Fine, Princess…" the Wrecker sighed. "Name's Ralph. Not Knuckles."

"Aw, is someone pouting?" she teased.

"Leave me alone… Does he know you're buggin' me?"

She blew a raspberry at him as she climbed onto a gumdrop. "Listen, I'm on watch so I ain't gonna make ya fall from a double stripe, a'ight?"

"What were you doin' out there anyway? Runnin' away or somethin'?" Ralph tested her.

"Hmm, what- well, maybe I was, Mister Candy Tree Department. I was on my way to the track until I saw ya panicking in a tree of all things~ "

"Your dad's not letting you race?"

The girl pixelated again… twice in one second as she leaned against the wall of the box, feeling awful for making her Pop so sad. She just wanted one race to show him that she would be the best even with this glitch.

"Take a guess, genius," she replied, sadly, twiddling with a lace on her hoodie.

"…what was that? What's wrong with you?"

"We dunno. He's super worried that I won't regenerate with it…"

"Oh. Gee… That's rough, kid… Good to know he's lookin' out for ya…" Ralph saddened at the realization. Perhaps it was just something small, but no wonder Pops was so angry. "Sorry for messin' everything up. I'm kinda hotheaded, I guess."

"Kinda? Pops was so close to throwin' ya in an oven." she chuckled, cheering up a bit.

"Bet he hates me…"

"He doesn't hate ya. You just scared 'im a little, that's all. It was honestly kinda fun~"

"Vanellope!" came the King's call, soon enough.

Knowing that it was unwise to ignore, she lamely turned to go her way back up to the stand with Sour Bill who glared back at him. "See ya, Stink Brain!" she piped one last time, which made the Wrecker giggle after a moment.

She was honestly not a bad kid, kept in line, for the most part. It made him feel much worse though for making such a mess with that ship with the bug. He was so glad the worst was over. But there was no way he was going to be allowed back once this race was over. Ralph lamely sat with his chin rested in his big beefy hand before something caught his eye in the distance… It looked like a white dot for a second but then it was gone entirely. Ralph shrugged it off thinking it was just a floater or something from being bashed around prior.

From what he could see on the monitor across, these kids really went all out to get first place. They zoomed through power-ups, shooting ice cream scoops, cannons and muddy slips that sent other Karts off the track. One of them even got run over by a gumball! Practically for this entire run, these kids beat the fillings out of each other and laughed about it… For Vanellope, she really wanted to join them all again. Sure, it was a bit intense but this was what made life so good! It was kind of good luck if you got hit with a power-up or if you slid too far off the track, it was all good fun and thrill and you'd regenerate back onto the track again. Sadly in her case, this was why she couldn't join them. It was fun to pick on her brothers and sisters in races, particularly this one every night after the arcade closed. One way or another, she was going to race with them again… and she was going to prove it. When Candy wasn't watching, she peered at the loafing giant behind the stand who waited for the race to end and then down at the new Kart her friends helped her get. Of course, her pondering caught her father's attention and he looked over, concerned.

"It'sth not gonna be forever, Vanellope. It'sth why I wanted you to stay at home tonight… I know it'sth unpleasant to watch…"

"I know…" she groaned. It hurt him to watch her even sit in a Kart… There had to be a way to do this that didn't result in pain. He was just not ready yet.

In the distance, she saw Diet Coca-Cola Mountain and something clicked. Feeling his hand upon her shoulder as she thought of something, she smiled as the Starting Line then signaled to FINISH as the first nine were well on their way back. A fanfare played loudly as the race came to an exciting close. Ralph smiled and stood up so fast that be bumped into one of the boxes, almost knocking it over again.

"Whew! Gotta be careful around here… Don't need to get my head bitten off by Papa Bear. Won't Gene be surprised when I get back!"

And how he could only dream. The crowd went wild as Karts came, one after the other over the line. A few of these kids were still chasing after one another as if in a game of tag.

"Oh, you're all stho sthilly! Get back over here, so we can do this right!" King Candy could be heard. "Looksth to me that we have today's choices! Come on, gather round so ya won't make me dizzy!"

There was a range of excitement all through out the stands and the track itself. But before these kids could start wrestling each other, King Candy rose up with glee at what was shown upon the monitor. "Hoo-hoo! Wow! I am certainly proud of each and every one of you! A great start makes for a great day~ Our nine, do gather! For the rest of the night, do practice to your heartsth content, followin' tonight's First Place winner, Jubilina Bing Bing!"

Upon his word, it happened like magic, when that trophy cup glowed like the sunny day. "A massth of congratulations, my dear! For you have earned the winnersth cup~"

Like a jackpot win, each paid coin from before when then shot out from the golden cup, automatically becoming the red racer's, instantly sitting in front of her in a single small chest, with one coin not fitting in with the rest of them. After teasing one another, Jubileena pulled out what looked like a medal rather than a racing gold coin with the word HERO slapped onto it. This one had to be the one this neighbor wanted as their Official Announcer had spoken of. Ralph saw this kid hold it up to the King's stand.

"Very kind of you to help, miss Jubileena~ It would thseem that this confusion is over. Thank you, Thsour Bill," Ralph overheard as the small sour treat had retrieved said medal. "What we all thsaw today was rather jarring to thsay the very least, but all isth well, everyone! Let us call it night."

"Question! What was that thing!?" Taffyta brought up, rather bravely. "I know you know, Vanny!"

Candy had a tensed smile and bit down on his lip, nervously as he was given that medal by Sour Bill. After that, he joined his daughter and majordomo to meet the flustered Racers down below.

"Believe me, I am justht as shocked as you are… But it wasth just a mistunderstanding from a rather flusthtered neighbor who fell in one of the taffy poolsth, hehe~ Now I don't want any of ya to worry about it. Pleaseth, go and enjoy the rest of the night. I will thsee you all here later," King Candy provided a peace of mind for them.

"Who the heck falls into a taffy pool?" one of the boys started to laugh but the group all joined together again to walk off to rest and hang out for a little while. This was something Vanellope could never ditch. Candy gave a sigh of relief as they departed, looking down at the medal he held that was the cause of all this worry in the first place. Before Vanellope could go off with her friends, he quickly whispered to Sour Bill.

"Keep an eye on her…" and the sour ball nodded, sharing the same worry.

Glad it was all over, the King with the two Donut cops met with the Bad Guy who almost stepped on him. Composed King Candy fixed his wrapper bow and cleared his throat.

"Asth agreed…" he began, he held out the medal up to the large man. "… here isth your medal, Wreck-It. Or Ralph. Whichever ticklesth you…"

Ralph was relieved as he carefully took it from the King's hand. The Donuts were on edge from before and were ready to beat him one if he took a step closer to the King.

"Thanks so much, Your Majesty, I-I am really, really sorry for coming in like this. I really didn't mean it." Ralph was as sincere as he could be, especially after that small talk with the Princess.

Candy rose a brow at him. "You happen to be the first. And you hadn't known how thingsth work around here, but lesson learned, I hope."

"Yes, yes, big time, I won't be comin' back. I promise."

"Hoo-hoo, well, Duncan and Wynchell will show you the way out. Now I bid you adieu, Wreck-It Ralph."


	4. Diet Cola Mountain

Ralph still had that funny feeling as he was walking up this grand rainbow bridge that led to the wire back to Grand Central Station. When he was then brought to the cake tunnel, he wanted to say something but changed his mind. "Thanks a million, guys- No hard feelings, right?"

"Just keep walkin' pal," Duncan ushered. "King Candy doesn't need any more trouble."

"Right, got it," Ralph stated with his medal around his neck before they each parted ways. Ralph nervously clapped his hand together, quite embarrassed as he deserved to be probably. Something was going on in this little game though, that much he knew but it was honestly none of his business. When he took the train back to Grand Central station, something felt so off. The fact that he was gone for so long… was it seriously night already? In a fleeting feeling of panic, Ralph started to run as fast as he could back to his plug.

What he discovered was quite a shock. Once he got off the train, he found that the entire town of Nicelanders were all gathered in a fuss in front of the building as a large orange shadow covered them from the screen above. It was print out of a note with a sick game cabinet on the front stating in bold lettering; OUT OF ORDER.

Ralph gasped as he saw this before Gene of all people marched right up to him, enraged.

"You dare to show your face here now!?"

"You left us, Ralph! How could you just leave!?"

"Guys, guys, calm down… I-I'm back now- Wh-where's Felix?"

"You idiot! He left to go find you!" Gene yelled.

"Litwak's gonna pull our plug because of YOU!"

Gene's fury filled eyes caught onto the glint of gold around the Wrecker's neck.

"Wait- wh-where did you get that, Wreck-It?"

"I earned it, Gene," Ralph stated with some pride, although it was a bit diminished since the Sugar fiasco. "From Hero's Duty. Hit a few snags but here's your proof."

"Yeah, right… You were out stealin' medals and now we lost our real hero. Way to go, Ralph. Do you think this is all a game?"

"You're not the only one to say that…" Ralph grumbled.

"Q'bert said that you went TURBO." Diana trembled in her shoes.

"You thought I went TURBO? No, no… I only got one thing and I'm back. I will do it again by bringing Felix home, just you wait. It'll be okay!"

"If our game gets unplugged, it's all on you, Ralph!"

Without a doubt, he had lost the faith of the Nicelanders, all by a landslide and now Felix had gone missing looking for his thick hide. Remembering the spirited words King Candy said 'you can't just come in and start chaos and act like it's just a silly accident!' hounded his guilt down to the gut, making him rethink his choices during the hours prior. He failed to realize that a day had gone by and he was missing from his game, which led to the sign being put on. Now, the Arcade was closed so he had to act quickly if things were to go right again. For all it was worth, he was never mad at Felix… and the sweet hero went out after him despite this selfish endeavor. Ralph sighed as he made it to the Grand Central Station once again, running passed the electronic guard, ignoring his order this time. As he ran, the medal he had just fell off from its loose lanyard and it clanked to the floor.

Ralph felt it fall off and turned to pick it up, only to find that its own meaning to him had greatly lessened, after all the embarrassment it had caused him. Yet he did pick it up but he stowed it away into his overalls before he almost stepped on someone— Again. It was a little orange character who spoke in signs above his head.

"Q-bert! Q-bert, I-I need your help! I know you saw Felix- I need to find him, fast! Before the arcade opens…"

"&#$% !?" the character looked a little angry but nodded. He pointed his small snout towards the plugin entrance into Sugar Rush… Ralph gave a growl… He was not to go back~ As he promised. As if problems could pile up even higher. Why did he even leave in the first place?

"Are. You. Kidding? Ugh, well, thanks a ton Q-bert. Maybe I can sneak in without 'em seein' me. I just gotta get Felix."

Meanwhile, at the heart of the sugary kingdom, Vanellope had her own little plan and ventured through this maze of gumdrops and lollipops upon grounds of hills of chocolate and caramel towards this central mount that was in the shape of a cola bottle. Her friends followed close in their Karts as she drove along in Taffyta's. Soon, they came to a spot where there appeared to be no way inside the mountain, which confused the lot very much.

"This is it, guys…" Vanellope smiled with excitement.

Sour Bill sat in the Kart and peered out, concerned.

"Princess, I don't know if this is a good idea."

"He's gonna bake you so badly if he finds out about this…" Taffyta stated as she gazed up at the mountain.

"IF he finds out, besides he said so himself that he wants me to race again. I just gotta show him. I found this place a week ago and there's a bonus level inside, just between these two lollipops— Come on! I'll show you!"

The group all watched as Vanellope herself just ran through the caramel wall between those two lollipops. It glimmered with code for a second as she went in. It was a secret passage. It was known that King Candy managed levels and they never knew about this one until now. Once they entered through into a cave there was a track made completely out of strawberry wafers with Caramel beams making it spiral all the around the place with a pool of boiling soda at the base. At the roof, though there were stalactites of Mentos. "Whoa~ this is extreme…" cooed Rancis. "I wanna race in this!"

"Watch this!" Vanellope took a stray candy rock and threw it right at a Mento, knocking it off. It fell fast into the soda pool. It broiled and popped before a huge pole of heat shot into the air with a great noise! Splatter landed everywhere, scattering the Racers. Only Vanellope didn't move.

"You are crazy… Not racing must have done it." Candlehead stated with crossed arms.

"I've been practicing here, guys… It's cooler than it looks."

"You've been here before, Vanellope?" Sour Bill asked. "… and your father doesn't know about it? You know how he feels…"

"Yet! I just gotta show him at the right time. Sour Bill, please! I need to do this." Vanellope begged the frazzled assistant. "You can't tell him. Not yet…"

Sour Bill was stuck. He groaned, trying not to look her in the eye.

"Doh— Fffine. I don't like this…"

Ralph was having the time of life trying to hide among all these sweets and chocolate, trying to find any sign of the Handyman hero. But he didn't know where to start, this place was huge. Much to his shock, something blasted through the sky above. He looked up to see that it was no other than that same ship that he crashed before. To his knowledge, the thing was busted so that meant… it got fixed. There was only one who would fix anything back to perfection.

"Aaaah, I got ya now…"

Before he got a chance to move anywhere, there was a Go Kart and two other vehicles coming his way. Panicking, Ralph jumped right into a chocolate pool. It happened to be King Candy who was in a state of panic himself trying to locate his Racers. He rode in his daughter's Kart and broke right by the chocolate pool. The two donuts accompanied him as he got out of the Kart to inspect the splatter on the shore. He looked so confused though as a spark flashed in his eyes for a second.

"Are you all right, sire?"

"I - I don't know. I think thso," he replied, shaking this weird spell away. "Who wasth I… looking for?" he quietly asked himself, not feeling very well as a start. Stifling a bit of a nervous chuckle, he knew he had a thought of someone but it was gone. Even their name, their face. He knew he was looking for someone. Someone dear…

"The Princess, Your Highness…" Duncan replied, concerned. "Princess… uh, wh-what was her name again?"

King Candy turned to them, frightened that they had forgotten as well.

"Go and gather all of the Racersth. Every thsingle one and bring them back to the castle. Every child you thsee, bring them all home." ordered the King, as he tried to keep his voice from shaking.

"Will do!" the Donuts stated, riding away on their motors, aiming for the central Mountain.

Ralph soon peeked out from the pool as soon as those sounds were gone, managing to overhear some of that. Candy was looking for Vanellope yet forgot her name? That just doesn't happen after what he saw earlier. The King sounded really scared on top of it.

"What the… biscuits?" Ralph mumbled as he wiped chocolate out of his hair and hands.


	5. No Hiding Required

Wreck-It Ralph slowly got out of the pool, spitting chocolate out of his mouth as he began to ponder about what he had just witnessed. Sure, he was basically banned because of that fun stunt he pulled but this was too unsettling to just leave alone. The fear that morning was coming was pushed to the back of his mind yet he did need Felix, where ever he was in this place. Ralph began a heavy run in the direction of that ship… There was a pretty narrow road and Karts just came barrelling through, making Ralph have to hide again. It was the Racers themselves but someone was missing from the rest of them.

Ralph had to become a witness again when the poor girl, Vanellope came running after the group but was left practically Kartless. Her high pitched cry after them was upsetting.

“WAIT! Guys! Wh-where are you going!?” she cried, stopping right by Ralph’s hiding place.

She was just left all with her own… The look on her face was total shock and sadness. Tears welled up in her hazel eyes as she just turned in heartbreak towards this great mountain. Ralph was ready to jump out when he saw her run right through a wall. He took a deep breath and went towards it. When he thought he would hit caramel rock, he went right into a dark cave in. Stalagmites stuck up from the ground and a loud blasting of liquid could be heard deeper in. As he searched the dark place, Ralph swallowed when he dared to try and call out for her.

“Princess? You in here?” he gave it a try but got no answer. “Come on, kid…” he sighed.

In the wall, as he was just about to pass by, there was an alcove. From inside he could hear someone crying. Being amidst all this confusion, the Bad Guy gently approached those sounds.

“Hey, kiddo. R-rem- heh- remember me?” he tried to sound inviting, but doubted that it would work.

“…go away.” Vanellope’s voice scratched. She wiped her nose with her sleeve.

“Aw gee, come on. I just want to help.”

“Why are you here?”

“I-I was looking for someone but… Listen, I saw you out there. Looks like things got a little weird since I left.”

Vanellope was only silent as he talked. “It’s none of your business…”

Ralph could only stand back a bit at her pushing away as he thought of the next best thing. “I know, I’m just a stranger, but I’m the kind of guy who wouldn’t leave a kid here all on her own. I’m sure Papa Bear would appreciate it. Especially after that medal fiasco.”

That got the Princess to think about going to her Pop for help but she had no way of getting to him fast. All the kids just drove off, even with Sour Bill. Sniffling, she glanced at Ralph’s direction.

“They all acted like they didn’t know me…” she finally spoke up. “Even Sour Bill…”

“They what??” Ralph’s eyes went wide. This brought him back to that moment at the chocolate pool…

“They just left me here… and I don’t know why. I just showed them where I’ve been racing at. I-I guess they got mad at me. Bill didn’t like the idea…”

Ralph nervously scratched his cheek in thought. “Honest, I don’t think you did anything wrong, Princess.”

She just sourly glanced up at him. Ever since this glitch started happening, everything started to change. Soon enough though she pixeled again and finally got up from hiding and ran out of the alcove and out of the entrance.

“Where you goin’!? Hey!”

“Pop will know what to do!” she cried, running as fast as she could.

With heartache though, he chose to run after her. The way to the track was a little far but soon enough after much running, Ralph finally kept up to Vanellope when she hid behind a blue tent, where she was able to see all of her friends gathered and Candy was with them, having them all counted. With hope in her eyes, she ran out before the Wrecker could catch her.

“Pop!” she called out, grabbing everyone’s attention.

The one she embraced, first and foremost, didn’t even hug her back. The King only looked completely flabbergasted to have been suddenly latched onto. So much so that he couldn’t find words to say. But then when the Donuts went to pull her away, Vanellope gasped and tried to pull from them.

“Hey! What gives!? Let me go!”

“Wh-wait, thstop! Let-let her talk to me…” Candy requested and the distressed Princess was let go, allowed to approach him.

“Pop! Things keep changin’ and I don’t know why! I n-need to tell you something.”

King Candy looked at her, downright confused and greatly concerned.

“M-my dear, my dear, calm down, pleasthe~” he proceeded to calm her down as best he could. “…pleasthe excuse thsilly old me, but which racer are you?”

“Huh?” Vanellope was stumped at that question. “You d-don’t remem…? Pop, it’s me!” she stated, starting to panic. She glitched profusely. It was the same thing back at the cave. It was happening to him too.

King Candy saw how distressed she was and that glitch made his own pixels spark as well. Due to his own heart though, seeing her in so much distress, he could not push her away. She called him something that was clearly sentimental, instead of the traditional formal greeting. Not even his name. She was purely latched to him, unwilling to let go. Ralph saw the whole thing but seeing Candy wrap his arms around her in return… That instilled some hope. To Vanellope, feeling him hug her back meant the whole world. The other children, they looked really confused and very worried, but it seemed that King Candy made his decision. Ralph saw Sour Bill bring a wrapper blanket to her as Candy walked with her.  
*

“That’s it…” Ralph grumbled to himself as he began to think. The more he saw the more he began to realize that something had to be done. In the distance, towards the castle, he heard another blast from the engine of that one pod. Getting an idea, the brute began to run back into the forest of lollipops, crossing the track and making a trail. The wide and scaling sugar bridge leading up to the castle, there was one small blue dot walking its way down. Ralph knew just who it was…

“FELIX!”

Solemnly walking his way down, this little man, not any shorter than King Candy if not taller. He wore a Handyman uniform, complete with a hat but he looked weary as anything as if he got the worst news of his life. When he heard his name called, he nearly jumped when he saw his fellow just at the bottom of the bridge.

“Ralph!? I can’t believe it’s you! I’ve been all over looking for you! Where. Have. You. Been??”

“Felix, I-I can explain…”

“How could you do this to us, Ralph…? I didn’t know it was this bad, that’d you’d actually game jump!? As if we need this scare again! I almost drowned in … chocolate milk mix an’ I met the most dynamite gal…. but she rebuffed! She REBUFFED! My affections and just dumped me here and then you show your face! Now??”

“Calm down, calm down okay? Pull yourself together!”

“NO, Ralph! We are going home right now!”

An angered Handyman marched right passed him, grudgingly.

“Felix, I- I can’t.”

“You can’t what?”

“I can’t leave this game. S-something is really rotten here.”

“What is it?” Felix’s anger simmered down, now sounding more worried.

“There’s this little girl here who is being forgotten by everyone in her own game. Even her own Dad doesn’t remember her. On top of that, she’s glitching like crazy.”

“Forgotten and glitching?”

“Yeah… and, I’ve been seeing it happen here and there. Have you ever seen this happen before?”

“I believe not, Ralph. The only way for that to happen is if someone is meddling with the… code.” Felix said upon realizing something. Ralph was stunned and a chill ran down his spine for a moment. “Oh, my land…”

“This is just like something he would do. You don’t think he’s—?”

“Still around? After 15 years? Felix, he got unplugged.” Ralph pointed out.

“Well, yeah but one can easily escape a-a-and hide… Even in other games.”

Ralph gave a shaken sigh, turning his head to the sound of distant Go Karts. They were coming towards the castle and this bridge. In one swoop, he picked up Felix and jumped over to hide among the lollipop trees.

“Ralph!”

“Sssh! Quiet—“ Ralph slapped his hand over his partner’s mouth.

After a moment, those engines blared as they drove over the bridge. One after the other, these colorful vehicles made their way up to the castle. Once they passed, Ralph was able to whisper again.

“I’m uh, I kinda wrecked a few things here after I got my medal… and uh, let’s say Papa Bear up there probably won’t be too happy if he sees me again. I’m kinda kicked out.”

Felix shook his head and rubbed a temple. “I shoulda thunk! Since you crashed a pod of all things… Ralph, there is something else. Calhoun, the fair lady I accompanied lookin’ for you, she’s searching for a cybug.”

“A what? Oooh, oh, that… I thought it died.”

“Calhoun doesn’t think so…” Felix tensely smiled at Ralph. “… she educated me, saying they reproduce like rabbits on a spring day. So we gotta warn these people. We can’t hide…”

“Gosh, Felix…”

“How could you not know?”

“I’m a Wrecker, it’s what I do…”


	6. A Severe Approach

There was one thing they could do if anything was to get even the slightest better. If anything beyond these events even became noticeable to players, Sugar Rush would be unplugged as well… The Cybug news certainly didn’t make matters better. One thing set on the two’s hearts was this oblivious family. They couldn’t just leave them like this when the time was so close until the arcade opened again. The two sneaked about as soon as they got to the first wall that entered the castle. There was a group of marching Oreo cookie guards, keeping an eye on the series of Go Karts. It would seem that everyone was inside for now. Quite honestly, this was the safest place to be.

“You met him first, Ralph. Perhaps you’re the one better fit for this.”

“I promised I wouldn’t come back…”

“Maybe if we talk to him together, he’ll understand?” Felix looked up at him. “This is life and death. This concerns everybody.”

Ralph gave a huge sigh and soon he trudged forth right into the sugar cube court. These guards aimed their spears at the giant only stating gruffly of the word OREO. Ralph held his hands up in surrender. Felix was close behind but he did the same thing, smiling sheepishly.

“I know this is a bad time but we really have to speak to King Candy,” Ralph told them, hoping they would understand.

When those Oreos lunged forward to chase them away but the great lifesaver laced door finally made some movement. The one who opened the door was that tiny little ball of sour that constantly shadowed the Princess and the King. There was a glimmer of disapproval in his green eyes.

“What are you doing back here? He made a deal with you…” he drawled.

“I know but this is nothing like before. Me and my friend Felix, we really need to talk to him.”

“This game is in huge trouble, sir. Your sire needs to know.” Felix cut in, pleading.

Sour Bill looked wide-eyed and worried and glanced back towards the interior of the palace. “This is a really bad time…”

“It’s just a word and we promise to leave. For good.” Felix begged.

With great hesitation, the trusted sour ball then began to lead the partners through to the throne room. The place was huge and like Ralph remembered it was pink which had more sentiment than he thought. Vanellope lived here. The moment when the doors were opened to the throne room, Candy himself could be seen anxiously pacing. When he saw his most trusted assistant lead that one sort right back into his home, King Candy's look of surprise changed into that of distrust.

“… Wreck-It Ralph?”

“I wouldn’t have come back if this wasn’t important, sir,” Ralph explained.

Peering at the much smaller sort by his side, Candy took it that this was a friend of his and he looked extraordinarily guilty. Sour Bill took to his side once again, looking pretty uncomfortable.

“Ralph. I don’t want any funny businessth,” Candy eyed him, closely.

“No. There is no funny business. We need to talk to you.”

With silence coming between the three, Candy’s eyes widened with anxiety. It was how it was all night so far. Some things were coming to him in a blur and he knew something was missing, hence why he had all of Sugar Rush’s racers all accounted for. From what he remembered, there were supposed to be 19 of them. One of them fully believed him to be her father… This one told him her name and honestly, he felt that he never heard of that name before, which was quite the frightening thought. She knew him but he oddly didn’t know her. Her complete heartbreak was proof enough that this had to have a severe approach. Candy held his hands together, nodding while taking a step back.

“A-All right. Pleasthe, do follow me…” was the solemn order.

His tone came off as sad and trapped, so this wasn’t going to be anywhere pleasant for either of them. Behind the throne, there was a purple curtain. Behind it, there was a back hall but one door led to a single room. Once Sour Bill shut the door, Felix spoke first.

“We’re really sorry for coming at a bad time,”

“No-no, I-I…” Candy cleared his throat as he turned to face them. “I’m very happy you did.”

“You are?” Ralph relaxed a little

The King swallowed, having a lot on his heart at the moment. It seemed to be a struggle to even talk again but after a deep breath, he found the courage.

“I remember facing a dilemma long before you came, Ralph. And tonight, everything feelsth so fuzzy. I know I lost thsomething. And I thsimply can’t get it back, no matter how hard I try. Thisth girl, who looksth to be among the racers, came to me, cryin’. Vanellope. But I honethly can’t remember meeting her before. I didn’t expect her to call me ‘father’. That’sth w-what’s really frightening to me…besides that no one else knew her either. I-I need help.”

All of this was on the poor King’s shoulders, beholding the torture of not remembering someone had to be the most painful thing to go through. Fear of being banned was entirely thrown out the window. Sour Bill hung low, hearing his King’s true feelings and fears and helpless to be of comfort other than obeying as best he could. Felix had to bite down on his lip to fight back a tear or two. Ralph words were an understatement compared to the King’s own story.

“Y-your Highness… We are here to help. As best we can. But we have to hurry.”

Candy furrowed at him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s really my fault, King Candy. And I’ll do whatever you wish. Lock me up, kick me out… But I crashed into your game on accident and while I was flying in, I was fighting with something. A robotic bug from the game I got the medal from. The ship ejected me out and the thing fell into one of the taffy swamps. It was before I thrashed your race.”

“Hoohoo- thisth isn’t funny, Ralph, hehe—” Candy nervously chuckled at this, actually getting really upset. “Why would you do such a carelessth thing!?” was the terror laced question.

“It was an accident, I swear!” Ralph regretted this, wholeheartedly.

“Thisth is why we never leave our game…” the heartbroken King angrily jabbed at Ralph. “I can’t believe you!” he then turned his back on them, actually fighting back tears.

“King Candy, we are really sorry. But with this thing in here with us right now, we need to get everyone out of here as soon as possible.” Felix tried his best to calm the situation.

Tearfully, Candy looked over his shoulder solemnly at Felix yet with a strong hatred towards Ralph. It was so tempting to banish the two completely but with so much strangeness going on, he didn’t know what was going to happen. Everything was getting too heavy for him and he was responsible for the safety of his subjects and his precious racers. His whole world was crashing down. Felix got his bearings, gently stepping closer to the grief-stricken King Candy.

“Sir? Please, let me make this up to you.” Ralph genuinely begged. “This isn’t about that stupid medal anymore.”

“I fear that could be a mithtake.” Candy softly spoke, wiping a tear from his cheek. His voice was shaken and choked but he had the courage to finally face the Wrecker. “… how can I trust a bad guy?”


	7. Sergeant Calhoun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'You know what the hardest thing about being a King is? Doing what's RIGHT, no matter what~'

Those words were spoken out of hurt but they were bruising to Ralph. He couldn’t be mad at Candy for them, but he felt so terrible of how things had turned out. It was solely true that things were tough all over. Long before he knew something chilling was going on after these dormant, boring years. Perhaps it was good that he flew in here, considering the possibility of someone else sneaking around, who was believed to be long gone. Ralph wisely chose to take Candy’s words into consideration.

“I am not a bad guy. I don’t want the same happening to you guys, like our game…” That was the first wrong thing he did. “Let us help you.”

Something stirred in Candy’s heart, believing what he had lost was still there. It was a precious thing he had to hold onto. A lot was unsure but he had no choice, for the good of his children, his entire home… Genuinely, he was touched that they had just come out of their way. That tiny glimmer of honest faith in King Candy’s eyes was a fresh start.

“You have my word.” Ralph nodded firmly, and so did Felix.

There was no ill intent here, as messed up as things were at the moment. The pure honesty that was shown to them only moments ago, as mere strangers, for one thing, was a very difficult decision. Even with this memory glitch, although it could be linked to something else, something was damaged. Yet the bug issue was a bigger priority.

Oh! Throw me in Nesquik if all this ends badly! Candy ultimately thought, finding no choice in the matter.

“Thour Bill,” Candy finally spoke, finally making up his mind. “Gather my Racers. Make sure Vanellope is with them.”

“Yes, sire.” the lime treat bowed before he fled to the stairway.

“King Candy—“ Felix was about to give an idea before Candy outright stopped him.

“We’re going to the Royal Raceway for the rest of my subjectsth.” he ordered. Although, after a moment, it was obvious that this was hard. “I’m counting on you to make sure they all get to that gate.”

“Can do, your Majesty~” Felix looked quite determined.

***  
As beautiful as it seemed, this world was heading down towards a heap of trouble that was started a single disagreement. Even with home so close, there was no going back just yet. In Vanellope’s case, being utterly forgotten was the least of her problems having been led to the Royal Racer strangely enough and then was told to use it, in order to follow her fellows to safety. Candy himself got in with her, sharing one last look at Felix and Ralph. Felix was permitted to ride on the back as best as he could. Ralph kind of knew of a shortcut back down to the Raceway, where there was a town full of citizens. More than anything, the least he could do was stick around to protect them until all this was over, whether the King was agreeable to it or not.

Ralph got himself a spot on one of the backs of one of the other Karts, to make for a shorter trip. Once the speedsters were off down the wavy bridge, something else had come into their line of sight. It was white and red, like a candy cane and it buzzed in the air with white sugar coated wings. When it came their way, it prompted the drivers to need to break on the spot!

This was the very first time King Candy had ever seen anything like this. Surely, he couldn’t hold back a gasp and could only hit the gas to maneuver. It snagged one of the flags of the Kart, narrowly missing both Candy and Vanellope. As panic filled each driver, even Felix, Ralph did what he was best at and jumped off to snag the leg of this thing before it could take chase. It struck the road before snapping and hissing at the Wrecker.

“RALPH!” he heard Felix cry out but he was just starting.

Now was a good time to put all this frustration to good use. As if he had a mighty mallet in hand, he swung the insect beast over his head and struck it to the ground so hard that it basically burst into a bunch of dust and particles, just flittering away into nothing. The whole band of Racers all had to stop to catch a breath. King Candy gawked in horror, seeing the truth for himself, besides the fact that they had just been saved. Vanellope couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but that big lug just took on this thing without a second thought. At Ralph’s bellow for them to keep going, King Candy shook awake. A natural instinct went through him that compelled him to grip Vanellope’s hand.

“Hurry! To that gate!” he barked out an order and the speedsters were off, non-stop.

Ralph was quite happy to have got it in time and they got away. He swept his great hands clean as he took a breath after that sudden tussle. That was just child’s play.

“So this is how we’re gonna play, huh?”

He worried that that wasn’t the only one. Left behind, he had to look for another way to get down. He saw that bridge leading to the gate and he heard those engines get farther and farther away. Thinking that it wasn’t so tough to book it down these hills, Ralph made a jump down from the side of the road and started running, jumping and sliding towards that Raceway.

It was only a matter of time when he got there when there was a crowd of frightened little sweets all running all at once up the bridge. There were just one of those things but there was no taking any chances. Once they got far enough away, the Karts had to be fully abandoned and a race was on for everyone to make their way up as fast as they could. Vanellope was guided to go with them only she was unwilling to go without her father in tow. Her other friends thought she was crazy but tried to get her to get a move on, but it wasn’t enough. She was mad as a hornet, she broke rules, she tried to create little ways to worm her way into races, but she adored her one and only family. Even knowing the fact that he had forgotten her, he still provided that same love and care he had always shown her, as well as to all of them.

“Go with them, my dear! Pleasthe!” was more of a plea than an order.

“And you’re coming with us!” she boldly ordered back.

There was no choice here but to make sure everyone was on this bridge to that Station, but the gaze he fixed on her hinted that he truly knew. The moment was once again shattered when a shrill hiss came from the air before one of the stands was completely torn apart behind him. There were screams and cries but poor Candy was facing this beastly thing as it made a leap at him.

“NO!!” Vanellope cried but Felix had to hold her back.

Candy was small like the lot of them and had to use that to his advantage to better distract this thing while he had the chance. It nearly took his crown, it nearly stabbed him through with a single claw, but he ran between his stand as it tried to crash through to get him. Just as Candy got to the center of the Starting Line, it flew over and landed dead center in front of him. The shaken King of Sugar Rush was glared down by those intensely green lights as it opened its sparking mouth. Sour Bill tried his best to run after the dear leader only to see this horrific vision unfold.

“Heh-heh-Ha! Very nice t’ meet someone who’sth very decisive, hoo-hoo!” King Candy's voice shook, feeling too shaken to move as he held his hands outward, defensively, preparing to dodge. As long as it stayed away from the others.

And it did what he thought it was going to do! “WA-HAAH!”

Candy shut his eyes and held his arms over his face, expecting it to end quickly. At that exact moment, there were loud multiple gunshots fired at the thing, instantly turning it into a mass of white dust. Candy was left breathless, not daring to open his eyes just yet. He heard heavy footsteps and the clanking of armor come over to him.

“You’re alive, soldier. You’re safe…” came a woman’s firm, brash voice above him.

The Sugar Rush ruler finally shook awake, surprised to see another character towering above him with a massive machine gun in hand. As King Candy finally found his feet, Felix, the Donuts and Sour Bill came running to them on the track.

“Your Highness!” Felix cried out in relief. “My lady, you came back—“

“Can it, Fix-It!” the woman snapped as she latched her gun to her back. “Just as I expected, that there is an infestation in this game, all thanks to this colleague of yours. Now, here we are…”

“Y-you justh… you saved me… All of you.” Candy was a bit speechless. “I thertaintly didn’t expect this…”

“Pretty hardcore taking on a Cybug, soldier. I take it you’re the owner of this establishment. Sargeant Calhoun, sir…”

“Juth call me Candy, hoo-hoo!” he waved off the formalities, there was no use for them. “Thargeant.”

“King Candy!” Sour Bill’s voice sounded deeper than usual, a little out of breath.

“Are you hurt, sire!?” Wynchell asked, wary of this new stranger talking to his King.

“Not at all, not at all, thanksth to her…” Candy was very grateful. “And now, all my subjectth are at the Station, I juth hope they all made it in time…” the poor man almost trembled. That was before there was a scream at the top of the hill…


	8. Blocked

That one scream made his own programming literally have him run straight for the hill! Before neither anyone was able to catch him, Candy leaped right into a stray Kart and instantly drove off.

"Short stack!" Calhoun ordered Felix to get on her cruiser as if in an instant, who quickly obliged.

"My land! What's happened!?" Felix stammered right when they flew to the very top. He boldly jumped off as soon as they made it there. It was a waffle cone mountain dipped in deep dark chocolate and at its center was an opening that led through back to the circuit.

Through Candy's eyes, the sight of Vanellope basically trying to push against some kind of invisible, electric force was as horrific as it was flabbergasting. She was trying so hard to push through, even with the help of Gloyd Orangeboar, Candlehead, Jubileena and even Taffyta, but nothing was working.

"Guys! Stop it! I-it's not working— OUCH! Forget it! Just go! Get out of here!" Vanellope strained so painfully.

"I don't get it~ Everyone's allowed to leave!" Candlehead grunts, having to let go of Vanellope's hand.

"All this crazy talk! This is so stupid!" Gloyd growled, waving his hand through the gate, not getting kicked back or anything of the like. It was just Vanellope.

"I-I'm sorry…" Taffyta looked incredibly hurt and finally gave up trying to help her through. It was like an invisible wall.

Vanellope rubbed her face and her hands in pain. "It's not your fault…" she croaked, completely stuck at what to do.

Not even a second later, someone took her carefully by the arm, having her to backtrack away from this— whatever this was. Seeing that their leader and caretaker had returned in one peace brought smiles to their faces and sighs of honest relief. Vanellope's heart nearly stopped when she saw who took her by the arm while a hand was set on her other shoulder. King Candy made sure she stayed a crying distance away from that blindingly white energy she had her hands on. His first words to her after that moment down at the speedway were, "… are you hurt!? What's goin' on here?"

Ralph finally made it as the last of the citizens all ran through, except for one. Vanellope was at a loss for words as these kind strangers came running.

"It won't let me leave, Pops— I-I mean… sorry."

"No. I-it's all right, thsweetheart…" Candy warmly comforted her, not minding the sentiment at all. "We'll… we'll think of thsomethin'."

"What do you mean it won't let you leave?" Ralph asked, stunned.

"This has gone far enough…" Felix's usually soft tone held a hint of anger, for once.

That even surprised Candy as he protectively brought Vanellope behind the two good Samaritans when that strange bright electric light threatened to zero down again. The Racers did the same but they were on the other side and they weren't too sure about coming close again.

"But… what about her?" a lad named Gloyd worriedly asked. "She's one of us, isn't she?"

"What's gonna happen to her…?"

The muttering of her fellows didn't ease her anxiety in the slightest, yet Vanellope was surely a determined one.

"If she can't come then we're staying—" Taffyta came marching back, but Candy refused.

"No, no! If anyone ith goin' to stay it hath to be me… I want you all thsafe."

Taffyta looked like she had been kicked. "But… C-candy, we…"

"Just get out of here, Taffy." Vanellope tried to sound brave.

"Pleasthe." Candy looked to Felix, first off. "Thsee that they get through safely."

Felix found it to be a tough choice, glancing from Candy to Ralph and lastly to Calhoun before nodding.

"Go ahead, Felix." Ralph nodded to him.

"Get goin', pint sized. I'll take care of this." Calhoun swore, for once, very solemn.

"You all be careful." Felix swallowed his fear before sharing one last glance at Ralph before tipping his hat and making a hopping run into the tunnel after the frightened band.

**

Matters just kept escalating the closer morning came and there was no reason as to why these things were happening.

"Has this happened before?" Calhoun questioned King Candy.

"No. Never." Candy shook his head, genuinely frightened but he got to thinking.

Vanellope didn't want this. Now her father chose to stay here.

"Ya gotta go without me," she almost stuttered out, not letting go of Candy's arm but looked him dead in the eyes.

"That's not happening, kid." Ralph stated, gruffly.

"Huh-hah! ~ exactly— No." Candy's let out a very unnerved laugh, looking at her as if she grew a second head.

"I don't. Want. You. Here." Vanellope stated, outright, sounding as if she was trying to purposely hurt him with those words.

"Don't do that to me," Candy gave her a scolding look, knowing what she was trying to do. "I believe you, Vanellope. I really do," he told her, face to face when she ran at him back at the speedway when he was gathering the others. "You'd really think I'd leave you here? Pleasthe, you musth be crazy~"

Programmed and all, he was her father. Regardless of forgetting names, something remained the same. Vanellope smiled through tough tears before hugging him again.

"What if we get unplugged…?" she sighed, for everyone to hear. "Why can't I leave…?"

"It might be the same thing like the memory wipe." Ralph spoke up after some thought. "Something's wonky with the code."

"How can that even be…? You and I both know only programmerth meddle with Code." Candy replied.

"You forgot her name, her face… It all happened today. You sure there's no one else in Sugar Rush?"

"Goodnesth no, Ralph. Not that I know of. Only you. And who would do such a terrible thing?"

"You're talking like there's someone else in here with us." Vanellope spoke up.

"It's exactly what he's saying." Calhoun cut in, rather sharply. "Searching for those Cybugs, Felix let me know on a few… tall tales. I guess it's more of a clue than a story. There was this crazy racer, named Turbo. I take it that you know." she roughly pointed to Ralph.

"Ugh," Ralph gruffly ruffled his spiky hair. "As if we need to scare them more…"

"Justh… Justh tell me, Ralph…" Candy just wasn't going to question things anymore.

"It was a while ago. There was an old racing game next to mine and Felix's game, about 30 years ago. A new racing cabinet was plugged in and became a favorite. This guy, Turbo… He didn't like that one bit. He was an attention hogger. It was all he cared about. So when gamers played with the new game, Turbo got jealous and actually left his own game and tried to take over the new one… That didn't work out. So he caused both games to get unplugged. We never saw the guy again after that."

"Pretty much how Felix put it." Calhoun's face was twisted with disgust.

"No way he'd still be around, right?" Vanellope marched right up to Ralph. "Right!?"

The look in Candy's wide eyes told Ralph that he hoped that wasn't true. Ralph tried to avert his gaze from the small King's.

"Oh! You are thserious!" Candy's voice trembled. "He can't be in here,"

"It's possible. But I ain't waiting to find out the hard way."

"There is no leaving anytime soon." Calhoun cut in. "You doing okay, kid?"

Vanellope scowled and took a piece of candy from her hair and threw it at the gate. That bright electric loop zoomed down and struck it off as if it hit something solid. Apparently, she was the only one here, trapped. She glared up at Ralph, motioning to King Candy, hoping he'd be on her side.

"Come on, can't you just pick him up or something?" she spoke for all of them to hear.

Ralph winced when Candy gave him a scathing glance.

"He'd bite my head off, kid."

"I meant it. I don't want him here." she saddened when she looked back at Candy. "Please…"

Candy's scorn melted away into pure sadness as she came into his arms once more.

"Oh, Vanellope… I can't."

"Yeah, 'unplugged' my behind," Ralph stood up.

"All right, let's finish what you started, hotshot." Calhoun readied her gun. "Cybugs and criminals alike, I suggest we start searching for a way to this code, while we also deal with this cybug issue. You, soldier, do you know of anything we can use as a beacon?" she spoke to King Candy. "Only a burning light can kill these things instantly."

That was a bit confusing to hear, but Candy only knew of one place. He looked and pointed to the distant Cola bottle shaped mountain in the distance.

"Th-there. There's an unfinished level in that mountain. There's a pool of boilin' Cola at the heart. Above, there should be a ceiling of Mentoth. Once they fall into the Cola, it spouts like mad. I don't know how but if you get 'em all to fall in, that'sth the best we've got."

"Perhaps there is hope for this game." Calhoun thankfully nodded. "Once I find the nest, I'm going to need you at the top of that thing." she looked at Ralph. "It's gonna get messy but it just might be enough."


	9. That's No Good!

Sour Bill was among the many who were trying to escape but he was suddenly man-handled when he was fighting so hard to go back. The Princess was no where to be seen, the King was nowhere to be seen and now this plumber had a hold of him. Bill didn't even talk but only tried to squirm and roll away out of Felix's grasp.

"You can't! Oh, jaminy, what are you doing!?"

"Not. Without! Candy and Vanellope! Let me go!"

"Take it easy, easy!"

Being so slippery, Sour Bill was able to free himself.

"I didn't expect you to be so animated…" Felix panted as he took chase. "Hold the phone there, partner!"

The hero took initiative and hopped in front of the sour ball before he could get too far back in. "Don't grab me again!" Bill deepened at him, trying to jump aside.

"I won't, I won't, I'm just askin' you to listen to me…"

"It's my job to be there for 'em~ I'll kick you!"

"Golly Gosh, we can handle this peacefully, friend…" Felix fixed his hat. "…but running back in may be cause for more grief than of any help."

"If Sugar Rush is unplugged and they're still in—"

"Let's not dwell on that!" Felix's heart wanted to break, especially with the Racers in earshot. "We can all deal with this, I assure you…"

If he was honest with himself, he had failed to keep his own voice from wavering. He too was terrified. As if all at once, those colorful, scared children along with their numorous usually cheering fans all gathered in a fright at the heart of the Station, shocking the other game characters as they walked by at first. The Nicelanders, who were not too far away, saw this and saw their beloved hero once again, finally.

"Felix!" came Diana's cry as she and Gene came running to him, despite all of these candies running about. "What is going on!? Where is Ralph…?"

Felix had a mind to go back as well as soon as it was sure that all these poor Racers were cared for. No way Ralph and Calhoun should go with a fight all alone. Even when he inadvertently offended the bold Sergeant in some way, the mission remained the same. That mention of one 'tragic backstory' lingered in the back of his mind. He was the sort to wear his heart out on his sleeves, so it came out so naturally. This was a matter that had to be put on the shelf for now.

"It would seem that it's not just our game. There's something far more rotten than game jumping tonight."

The Surge Protector suddenly came at Felix though, much to everyone's surprise, practically making the poor handyman to backtrack against the wall.

"As if tonight could get any worse, what is the meaning of this? First, it was that ship, which could've harmed some of us."

"Believe me, sir, I am asking myself the very same question…" Felix composed himself and fixed his hat. "These young people need help! And I cannot explain it all right now but there are two others still back there. Please, Surge, we need all the help we can get… before two games may be taken down by morning~"

He wasn't talking to just the Surge Protector but also to those witnessing as well, even to the other Bad Guys walking around. The Nicelanders were on their way to evacuating their game after 30 years, completely defeated and even the slightest guilty. They least expected to finally see the beloved hero trying to convince those gathered around.

"All this started because of Ralph, isn't it!?" Gene pointed passionately at Felix's chest. "Now the whole arcade is in jeopardy!"

"Now, hold on a minute!" Felix had to raise his voice this time, which was a rare occurance, honestly. Finding that he was starting to feel too fired up, Felix had to shut his eyes and cool down for a second. "No, this is not Ralph's fault… The ship thing, maybe, but there's something el-else, something much worse. There's a little girl trapped in there… The game will not let her leave. One of them's a father an-and he refuses to leave without her! This is something my Hammer can't fix…"

That truly hurt to say yet not a moment later Felix got an idea.

"Someone's messin' with the program." spoke the sporty, determined voice of one infamous blue racing hedgehog as he sped up next to Felix and the Nicelanders.

Taffyta and the rest of her fellows, with Rancis, Candlehead, Gloyd and Jubileena, all looked on, looking absolutely crushed. "W-we tried to help her, but K-King Candy told us to leave…"

"We know, darling." Felix saddened. "… and ya'll were brave, really brave. I would've wanted the same thing."

"Sir, she's a racer like us." Candlehead spoke. "… I think."

"And he's a father to us,"

"We'll get them back to you, hon… I swear on it." Felix kept that idea in mind. "Somehow…"

He never tried it before, but if this code was being meddled with or broken, it would be worth a try to use his Golden Hammer to mend it. If there was a way to get to the code, one way or another. Touching code was not an every day thing. Not only that, it was something unforgivable and tragic should anything ruin something as delicate as code. It was surely rare, but when one thing should go wrong with a game's programming, it was usually belly up for cabinets, and that would be the end or pure homelessness should some escape in time. By the looks of it though, it seemed like Sonic himself was sticking by, along with a few others who knew the Fix It gang for quite some time. Even a few soldiers from Calhoun's own crew came by.

"Aw… I-I can't tell you how much this means to us, thank you!" Felix couldn't help but feel a tad choked up at the sight of all this support.

"That's no good to leave good pals hangin'. What do you have in mind, Felix? We have five hours until the arcade opens…"

 _A time crunch, how nice! No pressure at all._ Felix thought as he found some time to think.

"Yes—Yes! Gene!" he turned to the Nicelander who provoked Ralph at the start. Yet that could be settled later on. "Make sure everyone is safe out here, and please, keep an eye on these innocents. I have to go help Ralph and Calhoun… I have an idea!"

It was obvious that Gene was struggling with the idea but he soon gave in and nodded.

"I feel a bit responsible. You go and do your stuff, Felix… Not much else we can do."

Felix looked thankful at the Nicelander, not really in the mood to try and mend these hard feelings among his peers towards the Wrecker. But none of that mattered now. Soon it enough when Diana and the other Niceland ladies all went to comfort the rescued Racers, it was straight back to the Sugar Rush wire. This time Felix had a team, and who knew if all this just happened so naturally. His game was well known and everyone knew him with such high esteem, especially Sonic.

"All right," Felix began once when he led Sonic, Calhoun's soldiers and two of Ralph's personal peers, Bowser and Eggman. "This'll be a lot to take in, fellahs, but if there's a will, there's a way."

"There's a first for everything~ If we hit trouble, no one can go faster than me."

"I know that all too well, Hedgehog," Eggman nudged his daily nemesis in the shoulder, soon following in.

"What we need to find a way to the codes~ Only, it's so, so unthinkable. We've never done it, have any of you? If we can get access to it, my father's hammer may be able to return it to normal." Felix fearfully spoke.

"Question here, is why anyone would do it?" asked Kohut, one of Calhoun's most trusted soldiers. "Besides those Cybugs..."

"I don't know if it's true, but this Turbo guy was a whole new level of nutty." Sonic mentioned as they approached the wire. Behind them, he pointed to some graffiti, which was the shape of a helmet with a wide grin with that dreaded name written under it.

To Felix, seeing that was a giant clue and it just made him feel more jittery.

"Best if we work fast, gentleman. We find Ralph and Calhoun, we'll find the King and his little girl. Our priority is their safety. With so little time, I can only hope that this idea would work."

"As I said, there's a first for everything…" Sonic flexed up to get his running power up to snuff.


	10. Don't Move!

Through that wire once again, there was that entire world of colorful confectionery beauty, silent as anything, no longer bright with the fun spirit that attracted so many gamers each day. So this was over the top scary… There was no one on the arched bridge to the gateway. Since it was so high up, anyone or anything would be able to see from anywhere far off. Little did Ralph or even Calhoun know about the frantic last-minute gathering back at the Station. At the moment it was better for the two vulnerable royals to lie low. At this rate, being the only ones left in the game, nowhere seemed safe. Not even that homestead on the top of the powder sugared hills.

In the ship, Calhoun flew with the two who stayed behind, along with the Wrecker. It was best to not leave anyone alone with such a threat rising high… Right now, the exact location where the newly hatched cybug fell was crucial.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into thisth!" King Candy's voice went higher than normal as he was backed farthest away from the window of the ship, trying to keep from looking outside. Vanellope, on the other hand, was purely excited.

"You doing okay there, Papa Bear?" Ralph had to ask when Candy backed tightly against him.

"Don't teasthe me, Ralph…" Candy grouchily replied.

"Being King of all the racers, how can you be scared of heights?" Ralph chuckled.

"This is no Kart— This isth a first for me! Woo Haha!" the poor King yelped when the ship did a sudden dip. "Oh, sweet gum dropsth!"

Ralph actually began to feel bad. "Say, it ain't so bad. Everything actually looks really neat from up here."

"Yeah, come on, Pops! Loosen up!" Vanellope smiled playfully at her jittery father.

"Easthy for you two to thsay…" the poor King sassed at the both of them.

Her smile warmed up before she boldly took his hand to bring him close to the window.

Calhoun broke the moment and proceeded to lower the vessel, much to King Candy's discomfort. "You better be telling the truth, Wreck-It."

Vanellope was right though. The view was completely beautiful. As they were flown to the first crash sight where Ralph saw the Cybug last, there was a huge trench that was dug into the ground all the way to a pink frosting ledge overlooking the entire island. Ralph was able to see the full scale of the damage he did, blind as a bat! It was at the foot of the lightly pink candy cane forest, a usual place for leisurely walks after hours… But a horrible thought occurred to King Candy, seeing all of the shattered and fallen trees following this trench. Should anyone have been up here…

"My goodnesth, Ralph." his voice was down to a mere whisper as the pod opened up.

"Eh, yeah… wrecking is kinda part of the package in my game. A huge part of it," Ralph winced as he helped the two down.

Another thought came to Candy even though it was in fragments, he remembered that Vanellope had stolen that medal and this was where she was at the time? That pod could have, very well, struck her.

"You confound me beyond wordsth. Yet you came back anyway." Candy was subtly thanking him. "Wait. What was that you called me?"

"Urm— " Ralph uttered.

Vanellope caught her father having a mischievious twinkle in his eye when he saw something above them. He just casually leaned his elbow against one double striped tree as they were all walking by. The tree shimmered and blinked and just vanished with a noise. Just then, a thick wad of scattered frosting from the top all fell down onto Ralph's head in one big heap.

"AH!" Ralph yelped!

Candy swept his hands clean and fixed his red wrapper bow a tad before continuing on with a smirk. "Don't wear it out."

Nothing wrong with a little payback.

"He just thanked you, Chumbo," Vanellope whispered to Ralph while Calhoun began to scan the area with her radar.

"Geez, your welcome…" Ralph grumbled to himself as shoved all that frosting off, not without some trouble though.

Calhoun was very well focused on the task as she came upon one pool of purple taffy nearest to the crash sight. Getting right next to it caused her radar to beep only once, which was some kind of good, if not a frightening sign. Other than the noises from the power-ups and the Jumbotron being so ordinary, that single sound did not settle well with the trapped Royals.

"This is pretty much it, lady… I'm sure of it."

"This says you are, crackin' wise." Calhoun sassed at him. "It probably burrowed its way down underneath all this."

Following the radar for only a little while, Candy felt something crumble beneath the ground under him. The strange feeling caused him to naturally leap forward, grabbing Vanellope. Although, in an instant, it happened to the entire group all thanks to Ralph's own massiveness when the ground completely began to crumble, taking the group down with it. Ralph grasped the closest root he could grab and managed to catch Vanellope only by her hood. The worst here? He only caught Vanellope and Calhoun and Candy were nowhere to be seen!

Vanellope could barely find her voice when she finally realized what had just happened. Terror filled her eyes and she squeaked in terror when she saw what was far down below them.

"I gotcha, kid! I gotcha~"

"Pops!" Vanellope cried as she started to struggle. "Where is he!? Let go of me!"

Ralph was close to tearing up, especially when he saw what they had nearly fallen into. The ground gave way to this massive cave with a floor that was littered with these orbs. The ones he saw before back in Hero's Duty. The one he stepped on!

"S-sweet Mother Hubbard…" he stuttered as he tried so carefully to pull the tearful girl back up.

"Ya gotta hang on to me, Vanellope~"

"We have to find him!" Vanellope cried but he had to keep her quiet.

"W-we will, we will! Just, ah! I gotta get you out first…"

"No, please! DAD!" Vanellope continued to cry out into this vast space. "Ralph, we gotta go down there! I-I have… I have an idea!"

Vanellope's screams echoed throughout this place, and Calhoun was gladly in one peace. She fell a ways down but got a good grip with her shoes and gloves to hinder her fall just enough. The cake wall crumbled as she did so and she had to slide her way down to the bottom. Just as she feared above all else… that Cybug had been very busy, by the looks of it. On her armbrace, she took out a light, shining it at the darkest regions of this catacomb, avoiding to flash it at any movement. She had to get her bearings for only a moment before turning it off. Someone else had fallen with her but he was among the collection of orbs that threatened to glow around him. It was King Candy….

This was the reason for the screaming. Growling under her breath, Sergeant began to carefully step her way toward the poor King, thanks to all this glowing. Gladly, he was still breathing. His face was tense with pain and his pixels sparked when she placed her hand softly over his back.

"Easy does it…" Calhoun whispered, protectively, while scanning the place for any grown creatures about.

Candy roused, after hitting the ground so hard that it jarred his code slightly. "…Oooo~" he moaned. "…uh, what—?"

"Don't move, Candy. We're with dodgy company. Looks like our Cybug got busy." she told him while she got her spare pistol at the ready. "Don't move and don't yell."

Candy's eyes adjusted to the darkness and soon, he got to see where he really was. These orbs were sat everywhere, as far as the eye could see. "Thsergeant…? Wh-where'sth Vanellope?" he fearfully had to ask.

Painfully, Calhoun looked up to that shattered opening they fell through. Up there, Ralph could be seen climbing back out with one girl latched onto his back, in desperation. For Candy, that took all the weight off and he slowly got up when the Sergeant took his hand.

"You hurt, Cadet?" she asked, nervous that his code was glitching slightly, in blue. Not as erratic as Vanellope's glitching though.

"Never had a tumble like that before," he tiredly spoke. "I-I think I'll be all right…"

"Good. Now stick close. Looks like we're gonna have to find another way up. My cruiser and gun fell with us. They probably landed further in."

The pain of a certain Bad Guy's actions hit Candy ten fold, seeing all this damage all at once. It was beyond what he truly imagined, other than the first two attacks prior… What have you done, Ralph? was the painful thought as he followed the Sergeant to a safer spot. Something was coming, hissing at their general direction. Calhoun soon took Candy by the arm and swung him quietly into this little chewed up niche to hide him. She pinned against the wall, with her smaller gun at the ready.

It was another one of those full-grown beasts, scampering along past, looking around with its cold, blank green stare. He had to get back to Vanellope, and hopefully to the rest of the children in one peace. If he was truly honest, he couldn't see any way out of this. That was until, he was addressed again.

"Keep your head straight," she whispered, spotting how shaken he was from the fall.

"Oh~ hoo-hoo! Believe me, it hasn't been thstraight all night long… Tryin' to useth thisth old thing~ I-I do trust that there isth a track nearby if the crash was in that forestht. From where we were, there should be a road nearby."

She drew in a deep breath when another clicking sound came from deeper in the cave.

"If we bustht a wall, we can probably get out… I hope…" he finished, shaken.

"That might be our best bet." she tightly whispered back.

"Believe I ain't much use other than bein' a map," he commented, still in disbelief.

"No one asked for this, don't be taking credit. All right, the coast is clear. Stay by my side."  
**

It was only Ralph and the Princess now and her kicks were actually starting to hurt. With that, he had to chuck her out like he threw a ball up and out of the hole so that he could use both hands to climb out. She landed with a fluff back onto the frosting covered ground.

"Why I oughta—!" she growled, enraged. "You big galoot, I'm goin' after 'em! And don't you throw me again, jerk!"

Ralph strongly got up, only to get kicked in the face. "Just wait for a second, Ow! Okay, I deserved that but let's just think for a minute~"

"As if that's one of your known honorable qualities," she glared at him, finally calming down a couple notches. "Just listen to me! I know what I said when I can get us down there… This glitch, I've been workin' with it for months. I can get down there and get them out!"

"Not sure if Papa will be very happy about that,"

"I don't care, Ralph! He doesn't remember me, but it's in his code! He knows! He can pull my hair off later, but I'm goin' down there, with or without your help." she set her foot down, steaming.


	11. Just Flexing Our Muscles

Felix was certainly in a fix when he saw that there was no one standing on that bridge any longer. The King and his daughter, Ralph, and Calhoun, they were all gone, much to his horror. Sonic took it upon himself to get a headstart as the rescue team all gathered. The colorful kingdom was desolate and so unnaturally quiet that one could hear a mere pin drop from a mile away. Felix’s hammer was jingling lightly against him as he ran forward in a panic. As far as the eye could see, there was no sign of movement. Not even a sound of that shuttle. What greeted them at the bottom was a series of Go Karts, one of which was missing. One white and gold, sugar one.

“Golly, don’t I have a bad feelin’ about this,” the worried hero uttered as he held both hands close to his chest. Eggman gave a huff and took out a little something from his tight red jacket. A spyglass.

“Let’s see what we got here,” he grumbled as he took a gander through his trusty spyglass.

“There’s a crash sight Miss Calhoun and I had discovered earlier. It was at that mountain pass.” Felix pointed out.

“That’d be a good starting point,” Kohut commented.

“Can’t be too sure, but that — wait…” Felix thought he saw something and inadvertently took Eggman’s spyglass to look for himself. “M-my land, there it is! Her shuttle! That’s it! Yes, we gotta head over there~ Before anything else happens…”

Eggman shrugged that off as those Hero’s Duty soldiers got two cruisers at the ready.

Felix got a good taste of riding one of these from the start with Calhoun, yet Bowser was not so comfortable about it. Gladly, those things were strong enough for the extra luggage, as it were. Sonic had no issue tackling this on foot.

“I have your back, guys… Let’s motor!”

“I’ll see what I can do with that shuttle. I think we need some eagle eye from above.” Eggman offered. “I hope the thing has guns,” he muttered as he got some good footing on Kohut’s cruiser. “For those roaches!”

“I fear that they might prove useful, friend. I really do…” Felix sorrowfully shook his head before they were sent flying.

Sonic got into a run cycle and dashed his way down the rainbow, aiming at following the cruisers while doing his own little explore around this place. He had to be careful though. If he lost too many rings outside of his own game than he wouldn’t be able to regenerate normally, or not at all.

“If anything, we need to find who got to the coding!” Felix mentioned during the flight. “Only they can lead us to it…”

“That might be a tough deal, kid! Whoever this is, I don’t think they’ll come quietly.” Kohut mentioned.

It had been so long ago, but there was a time when they actually met Turbo once. It wasn’t anything close, or rather it was on good terms, yet they never had spoken to each other. Days were usually so busy that it was rare to even leave games, especially when the Surge Protector was so cast iron with his rules and constant checking. It was often a nuisance. Turbo and his fellows, the Twins often would just keep to themselves, so much so that rumors would spread that the lot was up to something. Sure it enough it was the peaceful quiet before the storm. Shortly after that whole fiasco with RoadBlasters happened shortly after.

Poor Felix began to realize how much he had been ignorant though. Not only back then but now. How could he be such a dumbbell thinking things were all good and dandy when not once he had gone to see how Ralph was doing, just like how he was with the Nicelanders? All this time, oh how could he let it escalate that far? Not only that, why wasn’t that spar at the party wasn’t big enough to be a wake-up call? Had Ralph actually been putting up with that treatment for 30 years and not once told him personally how he felt?

Not only that on his heart, but there was also so much to do in order for things to be all right again… That golden glint that caught his eye during the flight made him run through this plan in silence. Calhoun, that dear woman, no matter what she had gone through before this, and Ralph both had faith in him yet. He had hoped though that they weren’t too late.  
*  
Ralph was trying his best to change the Princess’s mind but her anger definitely matched that of her father’s.

“Little sister, now, you listen to me right~ DON’T— do not go down there, please!” he had to really mean it this time. “We’ll find another way!”

“What do you suggest, Stink Brain?” she angrily lashed at him.

Of course, even out and about, they still were not alone when one of those terrible insects found it’s way out, attracted to the sunlight shooting in. As it turned out, they had more fish to fry and Ralph had to yank the Princess away before that claw sliced down at her. Her scream and constant fragmenting had him lose track of her for a moment but just before the monster could have its chance, Ralph got behind it and got its back legs. He tried to drag it off before he would strike it down with his trademark slam down onto its head. All it took was one move and in a flash, another Cybug was gone.

Vanellope dashed away in a flash, finding a safe spot high in the nearest tree, forgetting once again of how fragile things were as of late. With a desperate cry, she had Ralph look up at her in a victory.

“Just flexing my muscles, sis!” he called up to her. She actually smiled before she saw another shoot out of the opening.

“Ralph, look out!”

There was one much bigger than the last and it stood tall on four strong back legs as it made an attempt to chomp down at the Wrecker. Ralph managed to get a grip just strong enough to keep those sparking jaws at bay, up until it actually started to push him along the ground. Vanellope was just about to get down to him until one gloved hand took her by the arm.

Ralph least expected one thing to be thrown at the creature, only spotting one all too familiar golden glint in his peripheral before a solid chime sounded once it hit its crown. All in an instant, the thing cried out in a shrill yell as it threw Ralph aside, forcing him to strike his head against one of the trees. One lone golden hammer fell to the ground near his feet. Ralph was stunned to see it and watched that Cybug reel back and shimmer brightly before its entire frame shrunk and shriveled into a single shape, of that of an egg…

“… felix?” Ralph whispered as he shook that dizziness away. Up in the tree with the Princess stood Fix-It with one other perched above with him.

“Yeah! That oughta Fix-It!” Sonic the Hedgehog cheered.

“Take it, friend!” Felix cried to the Wrecker.

It was not over just yet. Ralph picked up the hammer and began to run when more creatures started to crawl out. Sonic shot down in a single spin, distracting a few of them away for the moment as Eggman got into the shuttle… His mustache twitched in thought before he tested the gun.  
*  
Sergeant Calhoun and Candy did not like those sounds at all, at once when she kicked open a thin enough bit of wall after an awful, quiet, tense search for an escape route. She had gotten her cruiser, but her gun was never found. At least, Candy was away from harm. But she couldn’t state the same for Ralph and the Princess at the moment. Just as Candy told her, they were on a part of a pink track. As plain and loud as a firework though, there was a fight happening at the top of this mountain.

“NO!”

At Candy’s cry, a few of the escaped bugs flew their way toward their side on the track. Calhoun had to force him to run as she distracted the monsters. A full on infestation was twisting the environment as those creatures began to hatch, and lucky for them, they found one tunnel that got them out of that place. All by his lonesome, unfortunately, Candy had to hide for a moment, calculating, as the sky oddly began to darken. With this being something entirely new to him, he had to get on before panic would fully set in. Not knowing whether to thank or blame anyone for this, he broke out into a sprint, aiming for the quickest way to get up. He wasn’t getting anywhere without a Kart. He least expected to hear one approach him from behind.

It wasn’t just any Kart, but it was the Royal Racer. Could it be possible? He had to pause for a moment, realizing who he was trying to remember, but for some reason, he had forgotten her name again. His entire body panged from that fall and started to pixel slightly, the more he tried to focus. He was hurt by that fall. Tried as he might, hiding behind a giant cherry when the Royal Racer zoomed his very way.

At this point, he was seen, due to him being so weary. The one thing he didn’t expect was being laughed at by yet… another stranger.

“Not feelin’ too good, are ya, sport?” it gawked at him.

It wasn’t Ralph or Felix… This was someone new entirely and that tone petrified him all the way down to his very core. It wasn’t as high pitched, yet it scratched at the edges but it sounded like he was having the time of his life. The King knew he was caught by this stranger but he couldn’t move.

“Should’ve made sure that warthog stayed away, same with that flimsy goody two shoes, old man~”

Candy found his right arm get violently snatched and he was basically swung backward, forced to face this utter stranger. Candy got a good look at this character… who had a gaunt, worn grey face with piercing yellow eyes that shown brightly like Kart headlights and he sported a white and red striped racing suit, fitted with a helmet, sporting a sharp capital T. For one name only….

He had a deadly hold on Candy's right wrist. It felt as if he was locked in a shackle.

“Isth there a thspecific reason for thisth…?” Candy failed to hide how scared he truly was.

“I’ve rotted 15 years in a cabinet, kiddo! No one is getting in my way, especially you. I’ve been waiting to get to you."

“Goodnesth, me!? Why me!?”

“Because you’re going to make me the Main Racer.” the old bully narrowed his bright, yellow eyes at the stunned King. “Tonight.”


	12. Glitch and Run!

"NOT THE DOUBLE STRIPES!" Vanellope yelped!

Felix had risked a lot by giving Ralph his hammer, leaving him very vulnerable even though he was high off the ground. Which meant that Vanellope was in just as much danger as he was. The two dodged and stayed beneath branches as those things flew over, only to meet their demise by a fired bullet. The two had to trust in one another by using the limbs of these trees to keep from getting snatched up. Little did the heroic repairman know it when the girl so boldly took hold of his arm just as he was about to lose just a bit of footing. Right then he saw a great flash of light before his very eyes, as his stomach dropped and he broke a cold sweat from the mere fear that overwhelmed him. Next thing he knew, Felix found himself, gripping Vanellope's two arms, after she outright transported him from the now destroyed canopy to the safe shelter behind one of the truffle rocks. Felix needed a moment to catch his breath and realize what just happened.

"Princess! What — How — !?" he stammered at first, looking back to the battle farther away.

"Trust me!" Vanellope spoke up, surprisingly with confidence.

From where they were, Ralph did all that he could hit these bugs with the one hammer that could barely be seen in his mammoth grip. Each one he ran by and touched, they all changed back into eggs. Despite this willingly given advantage that saved his life, there were just too many to count! At the order of the soldiers as a mass of them were shot mid-air, Ralph found himself needing to retreat. He least expected to find Vanellope suddenly on his thick shoulder just as he was running. He too was blinded by this sudden light only land on frosting right beside the stunned repairman.

"KID!?"

"Ralph!? You're all right!" Felix actually was compelled enough to hop up and hug him, much to his surprise.

"That was cuttin' it close…" Ralph panted.

"Someone's gotta keep ya out of trouble, ya doof…" Vanellope snarked at him, hopping off of his shoulder.

Ralph still had the Hammer held tight in his hand, utterly thankful of Felix who actually came back. Also when the hero called him 'friend', instead of his lowly name, it got him thinking really hard. It was just in the nick of time before this onslaught of parasites all took off to the sky. Most of them were killed off and now the crew all got a chance to breathe….

"Go-gosh, Felix, I didn't expect ya to come back…" Ralph sorrowfully thanked his colleague. "Thought you'd be mad at me…"

Felix's eyes went wide as they gazed up at the Wrecker. "Why wouldn't I come back? And leave you here to…? N-no. You're one of us, Ralph. We were wrong back home, Ralph. I didn't do anything to help."

"It's nothin' you did, Felix… I never told ya anything." Ralph admitted. "Didn't mean to smash a cake in your face either. You really think me as a friend?"

"That's a silly question. Of course, I do. You're the heart of our game and we failed to see that. I'm the one who should be sorry."

Ralph felt a little choked up, knowing he failed to see how much he truly meant to his own game. Looking at the gold tool in his hand, he then politely returned it to his 'partner in crime', as it were. "That means a ton, Felix. Thanks…"

The two exchanged smiles before a scary thought came back to them. King Candy and Calhoun. They never showed up! Vanellope kept looking out, in hope, but there was no sign of them.

"I-I don't like this… Guys, he'd be back by now…"

"I thought lady Calhoun would be with you as well…" Felix spoke, dreading what could have happened while he was gone. "What's happened?"

"We were searching for those bugs a-and… It was my fault that the ground crumbled. Felix, she and Candy fell through and we never found them. They could be anywhere…"

Felix's heart felt like it just flopped down to the bottom of his stomach. Vanellope looked ready to cry.

"I really wrecked things, guys… I can't take it back."

Felix expressed his affections to the bold heroine and now worry was coming at him at full force. Also, the protector of the Sugar Rush racers and this world had gone with her. He felt the heat of tears wanting to rise up, but he couldn't allow that. Felix stood straight and tall and looked Ralph right in the eye. "That is a 'no can do' attitude, Ralph. We're getting both of them back. I promise you that."

"But what'll we do? Those things are all over the place…" Vanellope asked, clinging to Ralph's pants.

"If I know Calhoun only a little so far, she's definitely not one to let a fall stop her." Felix confidently spoke. "We have to trust each other to get through this."

"Pops would do anything for us in Sugar Rush…" Vanellope had to find some more hope.

"Candy talked about that mountain…" Ralph pointed to that bottle shaped mount. " We can use it as a beacon as she said. I gotta get to the top of that thing."

"That's gonna take a whole lot of grit," Felix stated, worried. "Ralph, you could get hurt…"

"If I can take on some bugs, I sure can handle some hot soda."

**

A whole slew of newly hatched parasites began to take to the sky, disrupting the once pink laced sky with their dark and foreboding shadows. While the crew was recovering and planning, Calhoun had a time recovering herself when she had to take on several beasts in order to protect Candy, who was also in a bit of trouble. She didn't expect to find another out of place character speaking with him as she looked over a corner. Gladly, she was able to reclaim her gun before it got eaten, but the cruiser was nowhere to be found.

Bravely, she had to stay put and listen. Candy was buying time to keep from being outright kidnapped by this stranger. There was a Kart nearest to them.

"I worked SO— SO HARD to take this game~" the stranger spoke in a deranged, confused voice before he kicked Candy away in the stomach. That caused him to pixelate even more. "I've waited so long to get here…" he continued, desperate upon seeing the sky get darkened and flooded by parasites.

"I'm… ah-ha~ I-I'm thsorry. I dunno what you've been through but I'm thsorry. But pleasthe… don't take it out on the Racersth…"

"I can care less about those stupid little brats of yours," Turbo growled, even as enraged tears stung his eyes. "I didn't rip code out for this~ I'm sure as Heck ain't quittin' now—" he hissed lastly, flexing his fist tightly as he prepared to strike the King with all he had.

That was all she needed to hear. Calhoun readied her gun and shot out from the corner, shocking the stranger so suddenly that he jumped back as the nose of the shooter was aimed directly at his chest. Candy held his arms around his stomach from that kick, trying to fight from glitching but it wasn't working. He was obviously suffering damage and it just worsened from that assault. Calhoun's passion and rage hit through the roof from all this anguish she had seen from everyone she had met so far. Now she heard proof of his knowledge about the Code…

"All right, hotshot. Mess with the bull, you get the horns," she warned in the calmest voice that was hiding some vent up anger, that was for certain.

"Aye, aye aye!" the 8-bit panicked, knowing full well that he wouldn't regenerate in this game. "Uncle, Uncle! Okay-Okay lady! Let's talk!"

"Oh, believe me, you've talked enough. And how you'll pay for messin' with innocents. Now state what you know or else TASTE it." she hissed through her teeth.

"Know what? What do I know!?" Turbo shook, trying to hold the helmet on his head.

"You hurt Candy, you damaged his daughter. Erased his memories. Where. Is. It?"

"You're talkin' crazy!"

Calhoun thought Candy being so quiet was worrying and took one glance at him. Candy's eyes went wide in full realization that his fears were true. Right then, the Royal Racer was close and even though it hurt, he ran to it. Calhoun pressed old racer down with the gun as he growled when the King escaped.

"You're mine. I'm pretty angry right now, so don't try being cute with me."

Candy revved and raced off, pressing down on the gas pedal so hard that he believed that he may have broken it. _It's not me goin' crazy… I knew it all along._ he thought, distraught as he drove fast and furiously. The further down the road, towards the main valley, where he saw Ralph and the fixer, along with an array of new faces. One of which was a little girl, whose eyes lit up bright when she saw him. Feeling pain from deep in his chest and head, Candy had the Kart skid to a stop as they all ran to his side.

"Pops! No-no, what's happened to you!?" Vanellope gasped and glitched out when he could barely stand at first. "Dad?"

"Whoa whoa, buddy…" Ralph gasped and caught Candy with his hand.

"Your Highness, i-it's okay, it's okay…" Felix softly spoke.

"We gotcha," Ralph reassured.

"I fell down… pretty-pretty hard. Thsergeant found me. It wasth no race wipe out…" he managed a weak laugh.

"You'll be okay, Papa…" Vanellope spoke, gently hugging him, so happy to have him somewhat in one peace. "You didn't forget me again, did ya?" she managed a smile.

Seeing everyone looking down at him, Candy focused his watery gaze on the Princess. Tears softly welled up. He knew the truth of who she was… He really did.

"Thsugar plumsth, how could I…? I'm justh really bad at rememberin' namesth right now…"

His weak comment made the group laugh for once. One thing was for certain, Felix needed to find out if this idea was going to work, other than what it did to the bugs. He took the hammer in hand as he kneeled by Candy's side. Sonic and Bowser came by, sure that they were all safe for a moment.

"Thsergeant Calhoun isthn't far from usth. We found who'sth been… doing thisth." Candy struggled as Felix rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir? Who?" Felix asked, with anxiety filling his blue eyes as well as everyone else's.

"He wouldn't thsay histh name… but he looked like one old geezer of a racer."

"No way…" Ralph gaped.

"Looks like our suspicions were correct," Sonic spoke up.

"What was the color of his clothes?" Felix then asked.

"White. With red stripesth. A red marked T on histh helmet…" Candy described which made it official.

"It's Turbo." Felix looked at the gang, horrified. "Calhoun's caught Turbo."

"So he… How did he stay alive all this time…?"

"It would seem your medal hunt was a good idea," Felix added.

"Let's go, Team." Kohut was for certain ready to go after his leader and for this new prisoner in the direction of where the King first drove down from. "This ends now."

Felix then held his hammer close to the King, biting down on his lip hard, just praying that this would do the job. Candy looked unsure, yet appearances deceive.

"Don't fret, friend. This is no ordinary Hammer. It fixes. It doesn't just fix." 

"Try it, Felix…" Vanellope begged.

All he needed to do was give the King's arm a simple tap with the gold tool. Candy shut his eyes as the pain began to rise up again. When he felt a mere tap, the sharpness then just went away. He felt one sharp twinge in his heart and those blue pixels sparked only once before he felt a flush of pure energy. He was able to get back up!

"Oh! Wh-what did you — Aw, ho-oh! That was thstrange~" Candy uttered, feeling wobbly.

"It worked! It worked!" Felix hopped in mid-air in joy. "Jiminy Christmas, I feared the worst~"

"30 years of usin' it, never expected any of this stuff…" Ralph smiled. "Looks like Papa Bear's back in action!"

Vanellope's glitched a great amount again, due to her joy of seeing her father all right again. She hopped onto Felix, trapping him in a hug, kissing his cheek. "Thanks, you guys! So much!" she cried out, giving the same to Ralph, which surprised him. She glitched to and fro in a dance before she right up hugged Candy with all she had. "Sweet mother of monkey milk! I thought I lost you!"

"Oh thsweety, I-I ain't goin' anywhere…" Candy choked, although she was glitching yet she had full control over it somehow. Thankfulness glimmered from his eyes at the troupe as Felix offered the same for her. For a moment, she thought about it.

"This means the world, guys, but my glitch has to stay, at least for right now…"

"But, little sis… You can't leave the game." Ralph reminded.

"I-I know. Just … not yet. I have a feeling we'll need it."

"Needing a glitch?" Sonic smiled thoughtfully. "Never thought of that before."

Candy did not like it at first, but he had to trust her with it. Right now, surviving was the greatest mission so far. He was about to say something on the matter before the soldiers had come back on their cruisers… With one prisoner in hand, struggling.


	13. Invaded

At the sight of the struggling one in the Sergeant's grip, the troupe was then silenced and slowly backed away when he was thrown down to the road in front of them, roughly. Vanellope looked disgusted as Candy took her hand, pulling her away. Felix kept close to the two Royals, not believing his eyes, not even for a second.

"Turbo..." came Ralph's deepened voice, laced with aimed anger.

"Long time... No see." was Turbo overly drawled reply.

"I thought I knew you well. But this is a new low..." Felix lowly spoke to the arcade criminal.

"Oh, you, of all idiots, should know how I roll, Junior..." Turbo spat, even as he was out of breath, glaring at the hammer wielding sprite.

"Oh, thsugar cubes..." Candy trembled with Felix only pressing them farther away from the brute. "... wh-what isth goin' on...?"

"You never changed - -" Turbo chuckled before he was held down again by the nose of that gun.

"I-I..." Fix-It felt trapped, a feeling he had hoped to have long forgotten.

"Not this time, chump." Ralph stepped in, much to Felix's surprise. "You messed with games long enough."

When the Bad Guy rose a fist at the old Racer, about to smash down at him, it was Felix who stopped him from doing the worst, even if this past was a bit sketchy. Now was not the right time.

"No, brother... It's — He's not worth it." Felix struggled almost as he said this with a pure look of heartbreak in his eyes.

This was potentially dangerous for the old Racer when he had the odds set against him. He knew what all this meant, even though he was only trying to make a home for himself after years of imprisonment. Yet, he knew he was in the thick ever since he messed with the Fix-Its back in the day of popularity. It looked to the Royals and the Sergeant that there was a feud between these two former neighbors, but that would have to wait with this impending danger directly above their heads. Calhoun steamed at the pain she saw in Fix-It, keeping this supposed problem in her harsh grasp, keeping him still and in some sort of pain on her cruiser.

"We will deal with you later. For now, we're screwed over because of you. STAY DOWN! It's gonna get ugly!"

When she pointed to the terrified trio. To their horror, was definitely ugly while Turbo made a cowardly run for it, King Candy took Vanellope quickly with the Handyman running right beside them. The trio got right into the Royal Racer and sped off. Their efforts seemed to have proved fruitless, the moment a mass of bugs began to to target them. Kohut flew near them, Sonic began to race along with them as they did their best to get back to that gateway out of here!

As things began to get more turbulent, Ralph had to use to cruiser in order to get to the top of that darned mountain. When he thought his own stupidity would cost the life of his friends, things definitely took a drastic turn. Calhoun tried with all her might to get her cruiser to go fast, despite the Wrecker's weight. There were many questions left without answers, but saving this game from total annihilation was the only important task... But whoever that hacker was, they were the unfortunate when he tried to sneak off from the others. Those he supposedly cared less about, as to so much to try and hurt them. His pride rose so high mixed up with desperation on top of it.

"Teach you morons to manhandle ME — That warthog ruined everythin'!" Turbo grumbled while those monsters began to devour the sweet confections that made up the entire land.

His fatal mistake was steering away from the gun weilding soldiers and had gotten himself cornered by one of them, right after it devoured its way out of the mountain of frosting. Nearly getting his leg snatched, the coward tried his best to scurry into an eaten hole... only to meet another monster, face to face.  
*  
Meanwhile, as Sonic was doing his best to lead the Royals back to the gate, Eggman hovered in the sky above, shooting down bugs as he flew the shuttle before they could get too close to them. When Candy made a turn into the Raceway again, they were met with another monster waiting for them. At the sight of it, Vanellope shrieked, grabbing her father's hand as well as Felix's glove before the three completely vanished before the beast could chomp down at them, which was unfortunate for the Kart...

Right behind one of the tents, the trio reappeared in a flash of blue light. Candy yelped, not believing what had just happened but he looked at the Princess, completely out of breath and shocked, for one, when one memory came to mind. Felix was oddly the first to have experienced this first hand, the girl had saved his life once already.

"Oh, child! What did ya — !? Oh!" was all Candy could manage to sputter out before beholding the massacre of game property so eerily close to them. Seeing a few karts further down the way, he took each by the hand and began to lead them on to those karts. "Come on! Hurry!" Felix cried, not quite sure of how to drive one of those things, but once he got into one, it didn't look so complicated. It was just the fact that he was in a panic!

"Push that thstarter! Shove the lever forward, then left!" Candy yelped as he and Vanellope were off. Once Felix pressed the engine starter, one foot pressed on the gas while setting the clutch. Ramming one bug in the face before he zoomed off after the two.

With the way outright blocked off and the beacon well on the way, there had to be a way to somehow evade these killer beasts. Of all they knew, this was their last night... Vanellope spied the tortured eyes of the King as he would frightfully look back. Of course, what was on his mind was that his neighbor would be unable to regenerate if he got caught by those glowing jaws. As for the girl, his daughter... her glitching would probably not allow her to regenerate either. First and foremost, they had to hide!

"Follow me!" Candy cried to them while they kept up quick and fast before he saw a shortcut, off road.

"POPS!?" Vanellope shrieked, quickly turning after him, yet she had to make sure Felix was well with them.

"Jiminy— I am not used to this!!"

With them being on their own now, him stalling all of sudden surprised the monster trying to snatch the candy car up into its claws. Felix had to make a jump out of it, hopping onto the back of Vanellope's before it was too late.

"Hang on!"

"I am, with all I got!" he cried before one of the back wheels struck a bump, almost spinning off. Or it would have if Felix didn't tap it. Although when he did so as they went over a bump in the road, that hammer struck Vanellope on the shoulder.

She was too distracted by her driving to notice it, but her glitch became blue, and then white the more she worried. "Princess!! What have I done!?"

Vanellope looked at her father who was almost ahead of them before someone else had chosen to join in this forced race. "No, it's okay!" she told Felix whose hand she took to have him slide into the driving seat with her.

"Turbo!? What is he doing!?"

"DAD! LOOK OUT!" Vanellope cried out.

Hearing her, Candy broke just in time before Turbo was about to pin his Kart against one of the road rails as the track went upward through a set of powdered sugar mountains. As to how this crazed lunatic got to them so fast was something they had to conclude later on. Not while their lives were at stake. Candy had to keep his eyes on Turbo as he kept close to his daughter's Kart. The three saw that mad glow in those sharp yellow eyes and they immediately turned right off road.

"What isth wrong with hith head!?" Candy cried, terrified.

"I don't know!!" Vanellope cried back, while fighting to look behind her.

Felix saw that Turbo was making the same turn through the cut through they swerved into, dodging around in another stolen Kart. "We got company!"

"Don't look back, Van!" Candy told her, quickly, not realizing what he said that shocked her. "Keep up with me, we'll lose him together!"

"I'll fix your Karts should anythin' happen — Where are we going!?"

"The bugs are taking over everything! I can't see anymore!"

"Keep your eyesth on me! I know what to do!"

Sonic suddenly took from behind at blinding speed after Turbo, leaping over truffles and bumps before kicking one of the stolen Kart's wheels.

"BACK OFF, YOU OVERGROWN WEASEL!" Turbo snarled as he weaved at the Hedgehog who was so bold enough to just leap high off another rock, jumping forward to the trio ahead.

"I'll take care of the idiot! You do what you gotta do, Candy King!"

Candy shared a brave nod to the neighbor as the ground began to rumble even more now.


	14. A Heart of Darkness

As this assault was happening in the sugary valley below, what was going to stop Calhoun and Ralph from their plan to launch this makeshift beacon in due time. They came upon another problem once they reached the peak onboard that shuttle. The Wrecker hung on to the side of it until they made it directly over the what looked like a top covered in white, crumbling Mentos, just as King Candy had explained. To the surprise of the Sergeant and Eggman, Ralph let go and fell to the heart of it, with all of his weight combined to try and knock it down.

Nothing happened.

Ralph tried again, ramming both huge fists into the center, in hopes of saving Candy and his Racers before it would be too late. In a way, he had to finish what he started~ and dealing with the old 'Geezer' had to come later, should all this end well. None of this was losing two games all in one day~

With that in mind, he gave one massive strike at the center of this pile and the ground shook and began to crumble. This wasn't going to be easy though, for the entire sky was covered in the glow and shadow of distant cybugs. Threatened by their approach, Ralph wasted no time and gave his best, all taken out on the Mentos. On the ledges, Calhoun landed shooting any monster daring to dart down at the Wrecker with Eggman staying close, shooting at the masses directly above.

Ralph was guilty, he was mad, hurt and terribly sorry for starting all this. If he hadn't though, Turbo wouldn't have never been discovered. He remembered well, of those early years. Turbo was a known bully of the entire arcade. When there was flux of popularity for Fix-It Felix Jr, it got worse, focusing all that brutish pride onto Felix, of all characters….

Felix never stuttered in front of anyone.  
Ever.

And it was only in front of Turbo and his gang, if he remembered correctly. Turbo was a brute even though he didn't start out that way. The more gamers played his game, TurboTime, the worse it got. It was just one day when the prideful bullying got so bad that Felix actually feared for his life. If Ralph hadn't been close, their game would have been taken out ages ago. Now that it was happening to King Candy~ so enough was ENOUGH.

Ralph was about to deliver his very best Wrecking Punch yet until he was struck aside by something over the top huge! Strangely, it was something so much bigger than he was. There was a bright red and purple Cybug, about half the size of this crater, shocking the Wrecker to the point that he backed against a pile of Mentos.

"Ooooh crackers!?" Ralph yelped as this huge dragon-like beast of technicolor sweetness climbed up top and stood tall over him. Before it got the chance, bullets struck against its shell from behind it, making it spin around, granting Ralph a chance to act! Whoever it was, they distracted it long enough for Ralph to grab one of its back legs and began to drag it back. Calhoun fell off her cruiser just as it was snatched into the jaws of the monster, which was devoured in a sparking instant. Its shell grew darker as it grew ever larger, with wider, stronger wings!

"WRECK IT!" Calhoun bellowed after she rolled out of the way in time, making her way to him.

"TRYING, LADY!" was all the Wrecker could give as he tried to smash down one last time.

Again, before he even had the chance to try again, the bug jumped high and flew at, picking him up right off the mountain. At the same time, Felix and the Royals were not having the best race of their lives. It was close to becoming their final one. King Candy was strangely changing direction through the thick sugary landscape, cutting corners to try and lose the abuser. Vanellope realized just where he was taking them. Felix hung on tight with all he could muster while keeping an eye on Turbo whose eyes were red with rage. Sonic was making it even worse for the bully by dodging and throwing rings to trip him up. One made his have to swerve right into a garden of gumdrops!

"HAH! Take that, Geezer!" Sonic cackled as he sped off way ahead of him with no struggle at all.

Turbo was frustrated, having to come this far, only for all of his efforts to be put to a stop. No one helped him when he was in need, no one… so why should he care for them at all? That stupid old man and those brats… His eyes stung with rage and he almost shattered the pedal when he jammed a red shoe on it. Sonic was a hard one to race though, leaving him constantly in the dust of chocolate through this candyland escape route while they were all under threat of the bugs. He almost got kicked aside but he rounded a truffle, so close to ramming the trio right off track!

Vanellope snarled at this and glitched again~ this time appearing right beside the King himself who had his eye on Diet Cola mountain, if that wasn't strange enough…

"What're you doing!? We'll be burned up!" Vanellope cried to her father, who worriedly looked back at their pursuer. Yet, she had trust in him, that somehow, things would turn out okay, but this was becoming more far fetched than she imagined.

The mountain was so close to caving in under him, but Ralph and Calhoun had another issue to face. Worse came to worse when a Kart seemed to come out of nowhere, striking this bug to the side. Calhoun was horrified to have to see Fix - It frightfully standing on the other end, hammer held high.

"FELIX!?" she cried out in fury and fear.

Yet something shot out from behind Felix, shooting straight at the recovering Cybug~ striking it full in the eye, making it scream out. Bowser came falling off of the flying ship, knocking it down before Sonic gave it another strike off to the side again before it would even consider trying to fly again. The worst of this was that nearby Felix, there was Vanellope and Candy, all there, vulnerable to this beast!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, FIX IT!?" was the Sarge's cry from across the wide chasm.

One other stood out among the rest, looking stumped at what was happening directly in front of him. Turbo was cornered instantly as this overly grown Cybug made an advance at him and for once in his envious, selfish life, Turbo couldn't find it in himself to move…

"RUN!" the others would cry but oddly enough, Felix grabbed him by an arm, pulling him out of the way before a blue orb struck the creature in the face as its backside was paved with bullets. It was so huge at this point that nothing was breaking it down~ Sonic did his best, knocking it aside to grant the others to get away. He unraveled back into another charging stance, glaring daggers at the brute, preparing to dodge again. Bowser with Ralph both came behind the brute, each taking a hind claw and began dragging it hard across the chasm, away from the poor family who both ran up to higher ground. Candy instinctively kept his daughter before him, even away from the old 8-bit who ran farther away even after Felix did his best to help the former neighbor.

Unfortunately for the lot of them, the Mentos they were standing on was beginning to become very loose, begging to take the entire troupe down with it. There was a spry little sound and the gold hammer merely struck the bug right in a wing. Instead of retreating back to an egg, it only got smaller, much to everyone's surprise.

The fight and struggle had to move on and while it did, Turbo found himself alone… At least he thought he was alone, looking much different than he did before in front of Candy and Vanellope. From deranged and desperate, he looked small and frightened, only trying to climb his way up. The weakened bug began to break down from Calhoun's grenade that set everything off as soon as she saw the pod fly overhead. Smoke and Mento pieces spat everywhere with Sonic sticking with Felix, and the two Royals. Ralph had to get off as soon as he did one last strike to the faltering ground.

"DADDY!" Vanellope cried, with love accompanied by rage when King Candy found himself frozen on a ledge on the edge of the chasm… She tried to reach down to him, glitching insanely, so much that she couldn't focus.

"Come on! Get up!"

"V-Van?" he squeaked, shaking awake when he heard her voice. Felix happened by, quickly, instantly helping her get the King back up with them as the ground began to fall beneath their feet.

"We need to get off, but we're kartlessth!" Candy shakily spoke, frightfully looking down the dizzying heights of the mountain. There was a narrow, rocky way down. It was a tricky stair down a ways but it was possible. "Hurry! Take handsth!"

Mentos fell down into the boiling center of Cola making the place quake and tremble. Eggman having picked up Ralph on the roof and Bowser spotted them trapped. Calhoun flew along the side, frantically searching for them as this degraded Cybug kept trying to chase her but its wings were shot off. All it could do was try to climb its way out but fell with the Mentos as a mighty eruption shot up into the air of heat and boiling bubbles and light! Calhoun saw a frozen Turbo not far from her and briskly ran to him. Kohut both threw a cruiser forward for her and jumped onto it with her just in time, but no one saw them fly out. Eggman caught Felix and the family just in time, almost crash landing into a truffle hill down below.

In an instant, a great light shot into the once bright cotton candy sky, creating the brightest beacon ever seen in Sugar Rush. It was so bright, that every single birthed cybug clawing and eating the once sparkling land came flying to it, mindlessly. From all corners of the land and in the seemingly endless horizon. Scores and scores of those monsters just flooded before the shooting light, all beginning to burn up upon contact. It happened so fast and with the troupe all shutting their eyes in terror, it all went deathly quiet around them.

The pod had crashed but everyone was in one peace, even when Ralph fell off and had caught three in his arms during the fall when they jumped off the ledge. Ralph moaned and lifted himself up, in pain… but he saw Felix, Candy and Vanellope, all safe and alive. As he rose up, so did two to an extent, breathless and speechless from the endeavor. Candy was thankful for Ralph but when he saw Vanellope so still, his heart broke before softly caressing her cheek for a moment.

"Kid…?" Ralph trembled with worry. Felix's eyes welled up with tears and so did Candy's.

Vanellope was still kicking though when she felt someone gently hug her, with a sob. She gave a scratchy cough, glitching out for a second. Everyone sighed in relief.

"Is anyone hurt!?" came Calhoun all of a sudden, landing after them.

"I don't think so. That beacon worked!" Sonic spoke up.

"That was a fun fall, wasn't it?" Eggman coughed up some sugar dust.

"Hey, Pops…" Vanellope croaked a little. "… that hurt."

"You little cavity," King Candy chuckled out, mixed with so many feelings that he could hardly stand, helping her up. Turbo watched as he was still held by Kohut, by an arm, deeply upset but very confused… as to why he was saved with them. The King drove into the mountain on purpose to shake him off. The moment came when everyone turned their attention onto him, which made him feel worse. He was only looking for a home after years of captivity in the abandoned game, Dungeons and Dragons, in the dark, guarded by some many villains. It was his own mistake of ever trying to hide in there, after was he did to Road Blasters back in the day. Turbo locked eyes with the ground before he was thrown down to it, at gunpoint. The growing terror in Felix's eyes provoked Calhoun to act.

"Hold fire, Kohut." she ordered and the man backed down. "Seems like some closure is required."

Ralph stood and soon the others did, two of which had no trust whatsoever reserved for the old Racer.

"…ya… ya saved me…?" Turbo stuttered. "… why?" he was slowly backing up from Ralph who kneeled by his side.

"You're a… a-a fellow neighbor, Turbo." Felix spoke.

"As screwed up as your actions were." Ralph responded, darkly. His fists were flexing.

"But I — " Turbo was very stunned at what just happened.

"Doesn't mean you're escaping from consequences," Calhoun reminded. "You've killed and was about to do it again." she said, glancing at Candy and his daughter.

"I-I-I didn't mean to, not in Road Blasters~ I just … I was mad and, I just wanted to be played with again."

"Well that didn't work out, did it?" Ralph huffed.

"I wanted a home…" Turbo couldn't look Candy in the eye. Not ever.

"Why didn't ya justh ask?" the King suddenly spoke up, which shocked the old Racer.

"When you snap, you completely forget morale." Calhoun coldly cut in. "I still have a mind of locking you up. A good cool down period should do the trick."

Turbo's eyes went wide with fear, the change shocked everyone. "No, no! No, please! Anything but that, anything!"

"What on earth happened to you, Turbo…?" Felix was stunned at this. "Where were you all that time…?"


End file.
